Saviour's Light
by Ugawa
Summary: When a chemical reaction blinds Naruto, he meets Gaara in the infirmary. But the religious redhead doesn't belong in his era. Can Naruto find a way to send him back, and in the end will he even want to let go? 1-sided SasuNaru.Warning:Violence/Molestation
1. O Father of mercies,

**Konnichiwa, Mina!**

**Hello, everyone! I'm here with a brand new NaruGaa fic! I promised people who enjoyed Mr. In-The-Closet that I'd be back with an even better story. I've been thinking about this for a few weeks and finally have the whole plot outlined. I'm soo excited to get started. It's 6am here, and I've been awake in bed thinking about the ending since 3am. I jumped straight out of pit, went downstairs and turned my laptop on to get started!**

**I hope you enjoy it. I know I'm going to enjoy writing it!**

**Disclaimer -- If I owned Naruto, then I wouldn't be here writing these stories. I'd be putting them in the anime.**

* * *

The name is Naruto Uzamaki. My birthday is on the 10th of October, which makes me a Libra, I'm sixteen years old, and before last summer I attended the famous Konoha Academy. It's a school for the kids with the highest of intelligence or, of course, the kids with parents who have the highest of wage slips. I fitted into the first category. My adopted parents aren't rich, but they knew I was special when I took an online IQ tests at the age of 13 and completed it with a score over 160. Those online quizzes are usually just made for fun and entertainment, so Jiriya and Tsunade made me take a real one at some school. When the score came out even higher, I was shipped off to the academy.

Once there, I made quite a few friends -- ranging from the richest to the roughest of the school, and I made a few enemies. My friends called me 'Naru', but my best friend called me 'usuratonkachi'. It means 'thin hammer' in Japanese, so I get the odd feeling that he was calling me useless.

The teachers there had a disliking for us. It could've had something to do with the fact we set one of the science laboratories on fire once. It wasn't out fault, I mean, who lets a bunch of 14 year olds play with dangerous chemicals, anyway?

As Mr. Kabuto jabbered on about how, "Chemical changes take place on the molecular level. A chemical change produces a new substance. Examples of chemical changes include…" The rest of it went a bit like this, "Blah. Blah…. Blahblahblah. Burning. Blah. Blah. Irritations. Blah. Blah. Chronic Diarrhoea. Blahblahblah. Uzamaki! Uchiha! Inuzuka! No, don't touch--" But that's not how the fire started… but it was how everything else began. And, it's also how my story opens.

* * *

I was looking pretty snazzy, even if I did say so myself. The long, white lab coat hung low below my knees and buttoned up at the front to keep my clothes safe from whatever experiment we were about to attempt. The goggles flattening the sides and back of my hair didn't add much to the ensemble, but what do you expect from something that resembles the size of glasses that even the most blindest of students didn't wear. I tried pushing my ears back flat against my head, but the goggle's strap kept popping them out. I looked like some bloody pixie boy, but a pixie boy wearing a cool lab coat non-the-less. It's not like the rest of the class was in any better condition. Even the apparently 'hottest' boy in the academy, who stood at my left, looked a bit like a dweeb with his brushed-to-the-side, black bangs being squashed against his pale face. And the boy to my right, well, his hair was always a mess, so no real difference there.

The white board at the front of the class currently wore a complicated formula which would be our next exploration, and our teacher, Mr. Kabuto, stood pointing at certain particle structures with a long, wooden stick.

"Hey, Naru. Watch this," Kiba said as he waved his hand through the open flame of the Bunsen sitting on our workbench. The fire swallowed his fingers and spat them back out as the digits emerged from the other side undamaged. He was always one for showing off, but that trick didn't impress me. Now, if he'd have left his hand in the flame for ten seconds without skin damage, then that would've been a cause for applause.

I pulled the flame away from him when he began melting his pen in it.

My face was so hot even my eyes were beginning to sweat. But it wasn't from the Bunsen. The cause was located somewhere within the region of where the lab goggles were sitting on my face. I scrunched my nose. God only knew who else had worn those ridiculous things on their face. The kid could've had spots, or worse, impetigo. If I woke up with red splotches over my skin the next day, I was going to sue big time. I pulled the goggles up onto my hairline to let my pores breath.

Sasuke, the black-haired emo dude to my left, held his cheek in his hand and leaned on the bench's surface as he used tongs to pick up little sheets of paper and set them alight in the flame. I hadn't moved it to his side so he could begin playing with the damn fire. What part of 'no flammable material near the flames, class' didn't those two understand? Sure, Kiba's hands weren't flammable, but his damn long, white lab coat was. I shook my head and rubbed at my eyes when Kiba nudged me with his elbow.

"Dudes, check this out." He pulled out a plastic bag filled with white powdery substance from the draw beneath the lab bench. "What is it?"

I snatched it from him. "Sodium Lauryl Sulphate," I read on the label. We hadn't learnt about it yet, but if the big 'DO NOT TOUCH. DANGEROUS' sign wasn't an indication to leave it alone, then I didn't know what was.

"Pass it here." Sasuke grabbed it from me. It looked as if we were playing a game of Pass the Parcel. Or, more like, Pass the Dangerous Chemical.

"Put it back," I said, leaning over to grab it. For all we knew the substance within it could've be poisonous. I wouldn't have put it passed the academy to have something lethal within grabbing distance of the students. The whole place was full of equipment that could kill you within seconds. I felt more as if I were in a training group for the CIA than a school.

Kiba snatched it from Sasuke's hands. "Look, there's a hole." He was right. Small, white particles were seeping from a small hole in the corner and trickling to the ground.

"Then put it back."

"Nah, way, man. I wonder if it does anything when it's heated."

Okay, I know what you're thinking now. "Kiba must've put the powder in the fire, then the lab blew up." Am I right? Is that what you thought? Well, you'd be wrong. Now, let's all remember that my eyes were still exposed to open air while everyone else was smart enough to keep their goggles on, shall we?

"Stop playing with it."

"Stop grabbing."

"Quit it, you idiots."

"Uzumaki! Uchiha! Inuzuka! No, don't touch--"

But it was too late. The bag split open. The tiny particles flew into the air. And Kiba, Sasuke and I just stood their watching the Sodium Lauryl Sulphate float to the ground in little clumps. And that's where it rested.

No explosion. No dropping dead students. No chemical reactions at all. To say the least, I was kinda disappointed.

But then my skin began to itch where it'd landed. Kiba was already scratching at his hands like a dog, and Sasuke was sneezing left right and centre. It wasn't a terrible itch. Just a little reaction, I'd had much worse in the past.

I blinked, and my eyes watered. My eyes opened and closed a few more times, letting the moisture build up, and I rubbed at them. Science lesson number one: Don't rub any mucous-developing area when you have chemicals on your hands. And apparently, especially not when you have Sodium Lauryl Sulphate because to say it stung like a bitch would've been the nice way of putting it.

"My fucking eyes," I practically screamed. They felt as if they were bloody melting. I was going to lose my fucking eyes! I covered my face and contorted my body as the sheer pain engulfed my whole face. I jammed my body forward, knocking my forehead on the solid work surface.

"Dude, what's wrong?" Kiba grabbed my shoulder.

"Get his face under cold water. Now, boys!" Mr. Kabuto shouted, and I felt my head being forced down before feeling freezing water pouring on my head. Kiba and Sasuke had dragged me over to the sinks by this point. But it wasn't the bloody back of my head that needed assistance from the cold liquid, it was my eyes! "Scrub his eyes."

At this point I didn't care that the whole class were laughing at me. They could all go fuck themselves sideways. I spluttered water as it went into my mouth, nose. The damn Uchiha was trying to drown me! I knocked him away with my elbow and stumbled backward, knocking over whatever had been on the workbench behind me. The sound of metal crashing over, papers crumpling and vials falling over was all I could hear before a scream erupted from every member of the class.

"Don't panic!" Mr. Kabuto shouted over the screaming. Don't panic? Don't fucking panic? Everyone was screaming and running to the door, I couldn't see, and he's saying 'don't panic'?

There was another high pitched scream, but it hadn't come from any human. It was a squeal that sounded as if something was about to blow. Then crackling.

"Everyone out the class!"

I tried opening my eyes, but the pain forced them shut again.

"Fuck. The Butane." Kiba's voice wasn't next to me anymore, it was merging with everyone else's shouts and screams. Heat crept up my leg. I kicked my limb, but it didn't go out. I'd caught myself on fire, and it sounded as if everyone else was leaving the classroom in a mad dash toward the door. Papers crackled and the exploding scream got worse. "Sasuke, I can't get to him. Get him away from the Butane before it blows." Something beat at my leg as I thrashed around, the heat went out, and my arm was pulled. My body staggered. By the sounds of it, more papers were catching fire around the room.

"Get out of there, boys!" Mr. Kabuto shouted from the direction of the door. "Uchiha, Uzumaki. Now!"

There must've been something squeezing my chest because my lungs instantly clenched. My guess was toxic smoke, and the boy coughing beside me just about managed to squeak out, "Naruto, c'mon." My body staggered again as I was pulled toward the direction of the door. The heat burned at my skin and crackled around us as we moved.

A door slammed and the crackling died down. We'd gotten out, we were safe. But the lab wasn't so lucky. In fact, the science lab was screaming. Screaming. More screaming. Then… BANG.

* * *

I'd been in the infirmary for a week. It turned out that Sodium Lauryl Sulphate was a harsh detergent and wetting agent used in garage floor cleaners. Apparently it rapidly absorbs and retains in the eyes, brain, heart and liver, which may result in harmful long-term effects. I couldn't even take the bandages from my eyes, so I hadn't seen what state Kiba and Sasuke had been in when they'd came to see me. Apparently Sasuke's hair was singed and he had burns running down his arms from where his coat had caught fire. Kiba had managed to get away without any damage. They'd came and sat with me every day when classes ended and repeatedly told me that I was a moron. Well, excuse me, but who was the idiot playing with the damn chemicals in the first place? I was the bloody victim in all of this. The whole Southside of the science department was gone, though.

I curled my fingers around the bed sheets and pulled them higher as I yawned and turned onto my side. I can't tell you how boring laying in a bed with no vision for a week is, all I knew was sounds. My hearing had definitely increased. I could hear the whispered conversations of the workers in the infirmary. Even the very low whispers, like the ones I was hearing now, sounded like a normal toned conversation to me. I wasn't nosy, just bored.

"What do you think's wrong with him?" One of the nurses said from just outside the room.

"I don't know. He looked in a terrible state. Poor little thing." Aww, how sweet. They were worried about me.

"Yeah, I know. I put him in the bed beside blindy-Mc-firestarter." Eh? Who-e-Mc-what-what? Bloody nerve of some people. Wait, there was someone else in the room with me?

"He was still unconscious the last time I checked. Passed out when his father left. When he was brought up here, we found strange marks all over his body."

"Really? What did they look like?"

"I'm not too sure. They could've just been birthmarks."

A new student, eh? Maybe I should warn him about the Sodium Lauryl Sulphate.

The sound of small glass objects hitting against each other filtered from the bed beside me as well as small whispers. The guy must've been awake. "On what has now been sown," the guy whispered, letting the words flow off his lips in a low, deep voice. "Thy blessing, Lord, bestow. The power is Thine alone. To make it spring and grow. Thy blessing, Lord, bestow. The power is Thine alone. To make it spring and grow." I lay silently, listening to the guy repeat some prayer. I should at least let him finish before introducing myself. He must've thought I was asleep, so I didn't want to embarrass him by letting him know I'd been eavesdropping. "Thy blessing, Lord, Bestow…" He paused and the sound of glass clanking against each other stopped. There was a rustle in his covers and a small groan before his prayer went off on a tangent. "Oh, God. Please. Please I don't want this demon inside of me anymore." Demon? What the hell was this guy on about? Great, I was sharing a room with someone who had a screw loose.

I faked a yawn before pretending to wake up for the first time. I sat up and blinked behind the bandages. Black. Darkness. The only thing I'd seen for a week. What a bore. I wanted to see the psycho 'demon' child, so I could describe him to Sasuke and Kiba later when I told them and had a laugh about it.

Turning my head in the 'demon child's' direction, I smiled. Hell, I didn't even know if he was looking at me. For all I knew, he could've been blind as well. "Hello?" I said.

A clank came from the floor as something was dropped. "Oh, heavens."

"What was that?" I asked. I have no idea why I tilted my head to the floor to see what had been dropped. You'd have thought a week without sight would've reminded me that I couldn't see…

Pitter-patter of feet came from my left as the boy obviously got out of bed to pick up whatever he'd dropped. "My beads."

"Your what?" This guy wore beads? Wait until Sasuke and Kiba got a load of this. Maybe school wouldn't be that boring this year, after all.

"My beads," he answered softly. There was a small pause. Before, "You can see me?" Of course I couldn't bloody see him. Could HE not see the bandages around my eyes. "What happened to your eyes?" There we go. Give the boy a medal.

I grinned in the direction of his voice. "Science lesson number one. Don't rub sodium lauryl sulphate into your eyes. It stings like a bitch, and you'll probably lose your eyesight."

"You're blind?"

"For now." Was I blind? I hadn't thought about it like that. I just thought my eyes needed some healing time. They'd be fine. Naruto Uzumaki was not going to go blind. I had too many things to do. Too many things to SEE. "So, which category do you fall into?"

"Category?" his small voice sounded so lost.

"Are you rich or smart? You only get into this academy if you're one or the other." Having a conversation with someone you'd never seen, thinks has a demon within them, and wears beads isn't something you do everyday. I tried to get a mental picture of what he looked like by the way he sounded. Small voice. Small person. Probably skinny and pathetic looking. Wears beads. Nancy boy(what does a Nancy boy look like?). Thinks he has a demon. Crazy. Well, in my mind, he was a small, skinny, brown-haired kid with thick glasses. Maybe he could've given those lab goggles a run for their money.

"I don't know," came his reply.

He didn't know. The fuck is wrong with this guy? Obviously rich. I mean, the question wasn't THAT difficult. If he didn't understand it, then he'd be screwed when he was out the infirmary and in class. Actually, why was he in the infirmary? "What're you doing here?" I asked.

I could imagine him shrugging before realizing I couldn't see him. "I don't know. My father left me. I shouldn't be here."

I wanted to shake my head. Obviously the type who wanted to be at some normal school. Brains or money could be a curse sometimes. But that wasn't what I meant. Okay. Let's make this a bit more simpler for him. "Why are you in the infirmary?" My voice went flat.

"I didn't feel too good. I was halfway to my new room when I passed out. we'll probably be going as soon as someone comes here to release him." We? Him? Yup, this boy had a screw lose.

A fainter. That happened to some new students. Coming from a regular school to a CIA training ground sometimes threw newbies off guard. Too much to take on their first day. I'd been the same. But then again, walking into a school and seeing a group of teenagers dangling a student out the top floor window would give anyone the heebie-jeebies. Apparently it was some mathematical experiment. I wouldn't attend my math classes for the first month out of fear of being dangled out a window. They weren't low windows, either. The academy was set in an old castle (sort of like the posh schools you see on TV. Built with old stone bricks, large wooden doors and huge windows.) and it was a good 300 foot drop to the ground. The whole inside had been renovated, though. You wouldn't be able to guess what the inside looked like from standing out.

"Right… Anyway, I'm Naruto Uzumaki."

"I'm… Gaara."

The door to the infirmary opened and the clicking of high heels against tiled flooring entered the room. Paper crumbled as the nurse obviously lifted a sheet over her clipboard. "Mr. Uzumaki. I've been informed to release you. The bandages can't come off yet, but we have one of your friends here to help you back to your room."

"Yoh." Sasuke, great. He'd probably help me walk into a wall for burning his hair. "Ready to go, blindy?"

"Fuck you, Uchiha," I said, swinging my legs off the bed and standing. I put my hands out.

"I'm here, genius."

"Then hurry up and get over here. Unless you haven't noticed, my ability to see isn't at it's greatest right now."

He grabbed my arm and started dragging me toward what I guessed was the door and hopefully not a wall to slam my face into. I turned and waved into the darkness where Gaara's bed was. "I'll catch you around. Maybe we'll have a class together." I really hoped not.

"Who're you talking to, usuratonkachi," Sasuke said as he stopped walking.

"Gaara." I leaned in closer to where Sasuke's ear should've been. "I don't think he's all there in the head."

The room fell silent. I really hoped he hadn't heard me. Maybe we weren't as far away from the beds as I thought.

"I don't think _he's _the only one not 'all there'. Are you sure that stuff didn't effect your brain as well?"

"What?"

Sasuke paused and let go of my arm. His voice became serious. "There's no one there, Naruto."

I turned, even though I couldn't see the bed. "The guy with the beads."

"What guy?"

I tried to punch his arm, but he must've moved. "Stop screwing around. The guy in the bed. I know he's there, I heard the nurses talking about him earlier. Gaara, say something."

"There's a guy in the bed on your other side, but he's asleep and his nametag says Sai. C'mon. I'm taking you to get some rest. You need it." My arm was grabbed again, and I was pulled from the room, but not before turning back, seeing nothing but darkness and hearing the beads clanking together again and a small whisper.

"_Now the light has gone away. Saviour, listen while I pray. Asking Thee to_…"

We left the room.

* * *

**Confusing, no?**

**Well, halfway through that, I decided to take a completely different route to this story. I'm not too happy with it, but I don't usually get the voice down until a couple of chapters in, so I might come back and edit this one a bit. Hmm. I just read through it, and it doesn't seem like almost 4,000 words. Bah...**

**Please R&R. I always update quicker when I know people are enjoy it.**


	2. and God of all comfort,

**Well. I hope this chapter goes better than the last one.**

* * *

Another day, another science lesson. This time in the North side of the building since the South was currently under construction. Even with the depth of darkness invading my vision, I could tell all eyes were on me as I sat next to Sasuke and Kiba. The piercing stares of my classmates were burning my skin almost as violently as the sulphate had burned at my eyes. I really wanted to be back in bed -- I'd even settle for the infirmary's bed. Anything was better than being scrutinized and not being able to see the scrutinizers.

I fiddled with the sheets of paper in front of me. The lesson plan had to be read out, and I'd made sure to sit completely still as Kiba poured various liquids into a test-tube. The only advantage to this set up was the fact I didn't have to wear those damn goggles. I'd also convinced myself that the guy in the infirmary yesterday was a side effect to the medication the nurses had me on. I didn't know what they were. All I got was, "open up, Mr. Uzumaki. Your pills are here." When Miss. Haruno wasn't around. By the end of my stay, I felt like a druggy.

My body lurched forward as hands grabbed the tips of my shoulders. "My dear friend, how are you fighting the forces of blindness?" It was Lee. If his voice didn't give it away, then his choice of speech certainly did. However, having to listen to him while being blind can get very aggravating since I could'nt imagine his eyebrows turning into caterpillars and walking around his face while he spoke… so I had to actually listen to him. "Your braveness is an inspiration to us all. We should all take a leaf out of your book and thrive to become better people. To show my support, I will blindfold myself and walk by your side in our struggle back to sight."

Cue my sigh. The second good thing about the blindfold was not being seen rolling my eyes. "Lee, you don't have to do that… really. My eyes are feeling better already, I'll probably be able to take this thing off in a couple of days." I pointed to the cloth on my face.

A stool scratched across the floor and my hands were clasped as breath tickled my face. Lee was definitely too close. I was blind, not deaf. "I will still be by your side through your battle back to health. I will become your eyes and shall start right this second! Mr. Kabuto is writing something on the whiteboard. Neji and Shikamaru are handling their chemicals very precisely. Quite a wonderful job. I must applaud their brilliance." My hands were released from the iron grip and Lee clapped. "Kiba is mixing chemicals that if I am right shouldn't be mixed because they produce an unstable formula--"

"For the love of crap, Kiba," I said. "If you don't stop mixing those things right this second you're going to find out what it's like to be beaten by a blind person." I didn't turn my head when I spoke, because the threat wouldn't have been the same if I'd looked in the wrong direction.

"--And Sasuke is currently giving me an odd look. I must ask him what's wrong. Sasuke--"

"Lee," Sasuke said. His voice was muffled, so I'm guessing he'd dropped his head into his hands out of frustration. "God help me, if you don't shut the fuck up right this second I won't be responsible for my actions." Thank you, Sasuke.

"You are right. I must not exhaust this method too early. I shall wait until there is something important to describe to my dear friend."

"It's fine, Lee. I can hear what's going on. I appreciate you wanting to help."

I felt another presence arrive at our workbench. "Lee, I've told you to stop bothering people while they're working." Neji to the rescue. I looked in the direction the voice came from. "How are you doing, Naruto? Mr. Kabuto told us you were lucky. You could've gone blind for good."

I nodded. "I'm fine now. No pain, just waiting for the old sight to come back, shouldn't be more than a few days."

Lee jumped into the conversation again. "You are also lucky that you have dearest friends who risk their lives to protect yours." I could just imagine the burning in his eyes as he pumped his fist in front of himself. "If it was not for Sasuke's brave actions of loyalty, you could have been trapped in the fire--"

"Hey, I would've helped, but I was having a problem not being swept away in the freak-dash to the door," Kiba said.

"But it was Sasuke who fought his way through the crowd as the terrifying fire burned across the benches in one ignition due to all the chemicals. He risked life and limb beating the fire out of the bottom of Naruto's lab coat with the arms of his own, and sacrificed the edges of his own hair by directing Naruto out of the fire's path and to safety."

"Which I still haven't been thanked for, by the way."

That's how his arms had been burned. And he'd came back for me? I just thought he was still beside me and dragged me with him on his way out. "Thanks." It came out kinda pathetic. I owed him big-time.

"Now that we've cleared up that Sasuke is God and I'm the crap friend who abandoned Naruto, can we get back to work? I want to finish this before the bell so we don't have to stay behind."

"You are absolutely right, my friend. We should also take our leave and return to our own workstation. Shikamaru should not be left to do all the work himself."

Sasuke snorted. "I don't think you have to worry about that." Shikamaru was asleep. I didn't need my sight to know that.

Neji and Lee left our bench, and I picked our worksheet up. "Could someone read this out to me?" I asked. "If I can't do the work, I might as well learn something about the chemicals."

The sheet was taken from my hands. "Maybe you should learn Braille." Sasuke laughed.

"I'll put it on my to-do list ."

Sasuke read the sheet, and I mentally stored the different chemicals we were using and their functions. When he finished, I sat and listened to the conversations floating around the classroom. It's funny what you hear when you actually listen. A couple of boys were talking about sex and how one of them 'pounded some girl's wet pussy dry', which is actually physically impossible. But being in an all boy's academy usually meant most conversations around my peers were about sex. Hot sex. Sex backwards. Sex forward. Sex up against a wall. And even sex upside-down. I changed my track of hearing and heard Lee telling Shikamaru how, 'his un-youthful laziness did no good but slow his learning process', which, again, must've been physically impossible seeing that Shikamaru was the smartest boy in the whole school.

"_Holy Jesus, be my Light. Shine upon my way through this tempting, changing life. Lead me day by day_." Glass clinked and scratched together. I wasn't still on medication, but maybe it wasn't out of my system yet. "_Jesus, help my eyes to see, all the good Thou sendest me_." Yeah, it was definitely still in my bloodstream. I mean, it'd only been a day since I'd stopped taking it. "_Jesus, help my ears to hear, call for help from far and near_." I clamped my hands over my ears. Maybe the Sulphate had screwed my brain up. "_Jesus, help my feet to go, in the way that Thou wilt show_." It was that guy's voice again, but he wasn't real. It was my imagination. He didn't exist.

"Dude, what's up?" Kiba asked from somewhere in the darkness.

I took my hands off my ears. "Can you guys hear that?" The glass was getting louder.

"Hear what?" Sasuke asked.

"That noise." I had to raise my voice over the chipping glass. The chipping beads.

"What noise? Are you okay, Naru? You're shouting," Kiba said, and I felt hands touch my arm.

I moved my limb and stood, knocking the stool's legs out from behind me. It crashed to the floor and the room fell silent.

"_Jesus, help my hands to do, all things loving, kind, and true_." Clank. Clank. Clank. The fucking noise.

"You can hear that, right?" I shuffled my feet forward to clasp onto the workbench.

"Naruto," Mr. Kabuto's voice came from the front of the classroom, and I jilted my head in its direction. "Stop shouting and sit down. I think you've already caused enough fuss in the last week to serve you a lifetime."

"_Jesus, may I helpful be, growing every day like Thee_."

My stool was stood back up and either Kiba or Sasuke helped me backward to sit down when I stopped speaking. It couldn't still be the medication. Did blindness cause schizophrenia?

"_Amen_."

* * *

"I'm telling you guys, I could hear something. I'm not making it up."

I sat at the corner of the bed in my small room as Sasuke occupied my blue swivel computer chair. Kiba was sitting up on the windowsill. I knew where they were from their voices. I'd been trying to convince them about the glass clinking and prayers for almost an hour. Neither one of them believed me, though. But then again, I wouldn't have believed it if someone had told me the same thing.

"We know you're not making it up," Sasuke said. "We just think that you might have been right with your first conclusion. It must've been the medication still in your system. Or it could've been the Sulphate. Mr. Kabuto did say that it could cause damage to the brain if inhaled."

"Maybe it's God trying to speak to you." Kiba laughed. It wasn't really the right time for jokes. I was becoming a freak who heard noises!

"Maybe you should go see the nurse again," Sasuke said. He sounded genuinely concerned, almost as if he thought I was losing my marbles.

I shook my head. "I'm not going back to the infirmary. I had to stay there for a week already, and for a week I thought I was actually going to die of boredom. If I have to spend one more day in there I'm going to jump out a window."

Sasuke clicked his tongue off the roof of his mouth. "You won't be made to stay there just for hearing noises. It'd be a waste of a bed."

"No, they'll just cart me off to some mental institution."

Kiba's feet hit the floor. "Well, we'll just go ask if there are any side effects to the medication the nurse gave you. If she asks why, we'll just say you have bad guts."

"Okay," I said after contemplating it. "But if I end up in a mental institution--"

"We swear to break you out of you ever end up in a mental institution. Happy?" Sasuke said as hands wrapped around my wrist and pulled me to my feet.

"Unless you deserve to be in there," Kiba added.

So that's what we did. The pair helped me down the three flights of stairs to the infirmary and we waited outside on plastic chairs. She'd made us sit outside the door because she was doing a check-up on a student, and in her words, "We weren't allowed to observe." I was like, Hello, bandages around my eyes, you put them there.

She was currently talking to the student inside. Asking him routine questions. Probably taking his heart rate, oxygen level, the normal stuff. The guy in their probably felt fine, just wanted to bunk a few classes. I was the one sitting outside, wondering when the next church service was going to run through my mind.

"Boys, you can come in now," called Miss. Haruno eventually. She was the pink-haired nurse who looked after me for the week I was bed bound. She wasn't as old as the other nurses, I'd say she was in her late twenties. Needless to say, in an all boy's academy, she was everyone's favourite nurse and probably spent most her nights in half the academy's population's dreams.

I stood and let myself be guided through the door.

"What can I do for you today, Naruto? Are your eyes feeling bad again?"

"No, Miss. I was just wondering if there were any side effects to the medication I was on."

"Hm. Take a seat. I'll have a look."

I was guided to a bed, and sat on the covers as the two sides next to me dipped. A draw opened, there was a bit of rustling and the sound of pills hitting against a plastic bottle.

"Here we go… Doesn't look there should be. Why?" A hand pressed against my forehead. "Are you feeling unwell?"

"Just a bit of a bad gut, Miss," I said when the hand was removed.

"Well, you don't feel warm. I'll go get you some Paracetamol, we'll see if that cures the upset stomach."

When she walked away, Kiba nudged me in the arm. "Dude, she is so hot. You're so lucky to have had her looking after you for a week. I'd break my own legs for special treatment from her."

"Don't be such a dick." I nudged him back. "It's not like I could actually see her--"

"_That's the one I was talking about_."

"--What?"

"What? What? I didn't say anything," Kiba said.

"_See. He can hear me_." Clank. Scratch. There went the beads again.

I rubbed at my ear.

"Here we go, Naruto." A cup of cold water was pressed against my hand and pills were put in the other. Great, more pills. I was going to be a walking pharmacy soon. I swallowed them and gave my thanks before being walked from the room.

That bloody voice again. Someone must've been playing a wind-up on me because I set the South side of the science department on fire. Why were people so cruel? So, no side effects. That couldn't be good. It wasn't the medication, then. Maybe it was lack of sleep?

"Did you see that guy in the bed?" Sasuke said to Kiba as they both held onto a shoulder to steer me back to my room.

I wanted to jump for joy. "You saw him?" I said. "The guy with the beads. The guy who was talking in there?"

I was steered around a corner. "Who're you talking about?" Sasuke asked. "I'm talking about that guy who was laying in the bed. That 'Sai' guy."

Kiba laughed. "He looks like your clone, dude. What category do you think he's in?"

"Well, he didn't look very rich. If he was, he could've afforded a decent haircut," Sasuke said.

"What, you mean like yours?"

"Oi, hands of the hairdo."

Sai? Perhaps that's who the guy with the beads was talking to. I had to speak to the boy and find out if he knew what was going on. Maybe he was doing this to me.

* * *

**Well. That's the second chapter. Do you know how hard it is to write in the POV of someone who's blind. I can't put any description of what things look like, which is very limiting.**

**I've just sat here from 11:30pm to 6am writing over half the first chapter and now this one. Phew. I must really be looking forward to getting into the actual plot!! Ahh. So excited. Lol. And I just have to say… Lee wasn't included in my last fic, so I just have to have him in this one. I'm sure I can find some other chapters to randomly throw him into. I just love, love and love writing Lee! He's so funny. Only problem is, once I start, I have to try really hard to not make Naruto's internal dialogue lee-ish for the first few sentences afterwards.**

**Please R&R. I always update quicker when I know people are enjoying the fic.**


	3. our only help in time of need:

**Ja, mina. Kore de atarashii chapter. (I don't know how to say 'chapter' in Japanese :P)**

**Well, everyone. Here is the new chapter. I was looking at one of the bath salts I got for Christmas and the first ingredient was Sodium Lauryl Sulphate. I just thought I'd share that as it made me chuckle.**

**Finding things confusing? Let's see if the answers are in this chapter, shall we?**

* * *

_Drip_. A drop of liquid splashed in the distance. In the dark. _Drip_. Another tear fell through the void to join the others. _Drip_. An illuminated ripple swam across the surface of the black sea. _Drip. Drip_. The water echoed and sent more glowing ripples. Becoming the only light I'd seen in over a week. An invisible force pulled at my arm, but the outstretched limb was invisible to my eyes. It was swallowed by the depth.

"Look graciously upon him, 0 Lord." That soft voice. So lost, so confused. Almost as if hanging onto hope with the repetition of prayer. Where did it come from? Could he be searching for light as I was?

"The more the outward man decayeth, strengthen him, we beseech thee," Gaara, the boy with the beads, spoke. His voice as deep as any ocean. "So much the more continually with thy grace and Holy Spirit in the inner man." His voice floated around my dark sewer. _Drip_. Another illuminated ripple swam, sending larger rings as it progressed across the floor.

"I lay silently before you." His voice bounced around my mind, sending shivers down the very bones of my spine. Creating bumps across my skin and raising hairs. "I beseech thee. Do my tears mean nothing? The love we gave, must it be so punishable, Father? Is there nothing we can do for forgiveness? For deliverance? Lost within these walls. Searching for my light…"

The ripples froze. The silver rings remained stationed. And something translucent began to grow within them. A man? A boy. With arms hugging tight knees against his chest, and brown material stopping just below his knees. Old material. No longer used on modern clothes. Adorning his torso, a white cloth shirt that had seen better days. Light brown stains covered the piece, stopping at the boys elbows. Red. The colour of his hair as he rested his head on the joints in his legs that were bunched against his chest.

Slowly, he looked up. Not at me. Not seeming to look anywhere in particular. Just staring. Staring at something only he could see. Longish bangs hung around his eyes, only letting the light teal escape through strands. The teal in his eyes, so light that it almost merged with the white. His face leaked. A tear? Running across a smooth cheekbone to mix with the water already frozen below him.

His mouth moved. Lips touching and retreating as they shifted up and down to form words. "Where is thy light?" he asked himself, head lowering onto knees. "I wonder if it's weeping somewhere."

* * *

My eyes didn't seem to be getting any better. It'd been over two weeks and I still couldn't see. Miss. Haruno had taken off the bandages, but when I opened my eyes, it was as if the cloth hadn't been removed at all. She gave me some eye drops. When placing them in my hand, she told me to use them three times a day and keep my eyes clean. Only time would tell if I'd get my sight back.

If becoming blind at the age of 15 wasn't enough to worry about, I'd had my dreams plagued by a red-haired boy who wouldn't leave me alone. At least hearing his voice while being awake had ceased for the moment. His clothes resembled the ones I'd seen in a history book once. And the marks covering his pale skin were disturbing. Dark gashes ran his arms and legs from what I could see, and bruises covered his face. It looked like he'd picked a fight with some mafia gang and lost. I'd decided to stop filling Sasuke and Kiba in about the boy with the beads. When I mentioned the fact I was now dreaming about him, they'd resorted to calling me a 'fag' and had a good laugh at my expense. Best mates my arse.

Class was out for the weekend, which meant we didn't have to wear our uniforms which consisted of black trousers, white shirt with a green tie and dark green blazer with the academy's logo on. A leaf. I didn't need much help getting around anymore, either. My hearing had increased tenfold, meaning I could use that sense to help me not bash into things so much. How does that work, you ask? Well, I could hear when I had to turn a corner if there were other students around because I'd hear them down the other corridor. And I roughly knew where all the staircases were, so I just felt around the wall until I found the banister and first step.

Sasuke and Kiba had both gone home for the weekend, leaving me alone to fend for myself against the forces of Lee and his 'youthful explosions'. He'd taken it upon himself to be at my beck and call while the other two were away. I appreciated it, so why did I feel like bashing my head against a brick wall until I fell unconscious?

"A most precious butterfly has just flown past your window." Oh, yeah. That's why. He'd decided to carry on being my 'eyes' and was continuously describing every single detail… in detail. I scratched at my cheek while he described the butterfly's wings for me. To tell the truth, that's not really something I'd take into consideration even when I could see. But I wouldn't tell Lee that. I didn't want to upset his fragile little feelings. He just enjoyed helping people a little too much. "I must leave you for a few minutes, my dear friend. The bathroom is beckoning and it would be un-youthful to ignore its calls."

"That's fine, Lee," I said. "Don't worry about rushing back." I dropped my head onto my arms which were currently crossed over the desk in my room when Lee left. Everything was so quiet, making my ears buzz. Most students went home at the weekend, and the ones who didn't went into town during the day, leaving me in the desolate castle almost alone. Lee's father lived too far away, so he usually stayed. And my adopted parents were usually busy at the weekends -- Tsunade would've been at the hospital, and Jiraiya would've been working on his latest novel. Some weekends I'd go back to Sasuke's with him. He'd asked if I wanted to again, but I opted to stay behind since he'd already been my escort all week, he probably needed a few days away from me.

The wood vibrated under my arms as my cell phone rang. I felt around until the vibrating plastic touched my fingers. I couldn't even check the caller ID, so I just flipped it open and hoped it wasn't someone trying to sell me something. "Hello?"

"Seven days." A hoarse, crackling voice breathed down the phone.

Rolling my eyes didn't have the same effect when I couldn't see. "How's your weekend going?"

Sasuke snorted. "The 'rents haven't even been home yet. My mum's out of town for the week and Dad's working on some case down at the station. I might as well have stayed there. Even Itachi is out." He made another noise down the phone which resembled a grunt. "That's love for you, that is. Ship yer youngest son away to boarding school, ignore his existence, then go out when he comes home. This has to be some form of child abuse. They'll be sorry when I don't come home one day. They'll see. I'll move to Mexico, change my number and grow a moustache so they won't recognise me. You know, that…" I zoned out. Sasuke's rants could last up to a painstaking hour. One time I put the phone down and left my room for some food, twenty-minutes later I came back, picked up the phone and he was still going. He hadn't even realized I'd left.

Ten minutes later he took a breath, and when the line went silent, I assumed that he'd finished. "Write an autobiography, why don't you?"

"Shut up, usuratonkachi. You asked."

"I asked how your weekend's going, I didn't ask for your life story."

The cell crackled in my ear. "Whatever. Any progress with the eyes?"

I leaned forward. "Not yet, but I think I'm going to damage my ears as well if Lee doesn't stop describing everything to me." I ran a finger loosely around the wooden surface until I accidentally knocked over my pen-pot. "Goddamn it," I whispered, dabbing my fingers around to find all the fallen pens. I stood the pot back up and dropped a handful back in. I counted them by running my fingers across the tops of the lids. Five. Six. Seven… Seven. One missing.

"Here." A thin, long object touched the back of my fingers, I turned my hand to take the pen and dropped it back inside the pot.

"Cheers." Wait-- the muscles in my shoulders tensed. I didn't recognize that voice. I turned my head. "Who is it?" I asked, feeling my eyes moving in the sockets but not seeing anything.

"Naruto, what's going on. Who's there? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. I'll call you back." _Pip_. I cancelled the call and dropped the cell onto my desk. I could sense the person still standing there, but he wasn't speaking or moving. I placed one hand at the back of my swivel-chair and stood, pushing it out with the backs of my legs. "Who's there?"

I felt the air in front of me, searching for the person, but as I extended my arm, my wrist was grabbed, and my back collided with the wall beside my desk as fingers curled into the front of my shirt. My breath caught dead, and I gripped at the hands as I frantically moved my eyes, trying to see the attacker. I didn't even know if I was looking at him. I could smell his breath -- mint -- so I knew he was close.

"What're you doing to me?" the attacker hissed. "Why are you doing it, huh? HOW are you doing it? Is this some sort of sick, twisted joke? I want answers." My back was pushed harder against the wall. "And I want them now, blindy." Seriously, people had to stop calling me that.

"What're you talking about?" I pushed at the guy's chest. "Who are you?"

"I'm the guy you're trying to screw up in the head, you dickless twat."

Okay, this guy had to let go of me. Now. Blind or not, I wasn't letting some psycho talk to me like that. I pushed my hands between his wrists and twisted, releasing him from the front of my shirt. "What the fuck are you talking about? Who the hell are you?"

"I'm Sai, dickweed."

It was him! "What am I doing to _you_? What are you doing to _me_?" I stepped forward. "Why am I hearing that voice? What is it?" My fingers twitched. If I wasn't having problems seeing, this guy would've already been on the floor. I shuffled my feet forward and gripped onto the edge of my desk.

The room fell silent, and I felt Sai's presence move. I followed him with my head so he recognized that I knew where he was. My duvet rustled as he sat down. "You're not doing it?"

"Doing what?" This conversation was getting kind of confusing. And where the hell was Lee when I _actually_ needed him?

"Making me see him, and these marks over my body, I don't have a clue where they came from. When he told me you could hear him, I assumed it was you doing this to me." He let out a groan. "I really am going insane. I get dumped into this stupid academy, and now I'm seeing people that no one else can. This month can't get much worse."

My mouth opened to defend the academy, but closed again when I realized I had bigger problems to deal with. Like the fact I had some lunatic in my room who'd just attacked me and hearing voices. He didn't have the answers. I ran a hand through my blond tresses.

"I thought you'd at least know what was going on," he said. "Do you know how frustrating it is being able to see someone who isn't really there?"

"I can imagine." It was probably the same as hearing the person. My cell rang. It was probably Sasuke, I had a much heavier situation going on here than listening to him bitch about his family, so I ignored it.

It stopped ringing. He must've given up and hung--

"Hello?" Oh, he did NOT just answer my phone. "Sai… yes… dickless is a bit busy at the moment… what?… yes, I know what his name is… He's currently underneath me writhing while I fuck him senseless."

My mouth dropped. What the FUCK? "Oi! Give me that phone, bastard." My hands flew out as I moved forward. Sai's voice drifted past me as he casually walked out my way. "Sasuke," I shouted. "He's lying! Don't listen to him. He's evil!"

"Stop fucking with you? I'm not. I'm fucking Naruto. Why, is he your boyfriend? I'm sorry, he didn't mention anything about you." His voice floated from behind me, and I twisted my body.

"Sai! Give me the damn cell. Now!"

"He'll call you later when we've finished." _Pip_.

The fuck was wrong with this guy?

A small object was placed in my outstretched hands. "There you go."

My shoulders shook. My fingers squeezed into fists around my cell, digging into the flesh of my palm and creating little cresent moons.

"Anyway, what happened to your eyes?"

"Fuck you."

"Okay."

I stuffed my mobile inside my jean's pocket. "Get out my room."

There was a shuffle of feet before my bed bounced where he'd sat back down. "He's kicking us out, Gaara. He doesn't know anything, anyway."

"I heard. Perhaps there is someone else who could assist?" That voice. "And you really should refrain from speaking such sinful words."

I had to sit down. I collapsed into my computer chair after feeling for its edge. "What's going on?" My voice sounded so weak. I had a boy in my room who'd attacked me, then made out to my best friend that we were having sex, and I was hearing the voice of someone who apparently didn't even exist. I was cracking up -- schizo-style.

"That is what we came to find out. Sai and I were hoping that you would have some answers. It is all rather confusing, really."

"That's right. And we can't even bloody tell anyone, because they'd think we're crazy. Hell,_ I_ think we're crazy," Sai said.

I might as well pack my bags for the mental institution. Next stop -- The Loony Express. The tips of my fingers ran the skin on my forehead and moved to my temples as I tried to relieve a bit of tension.

"Dickless, stop spacing out on us."

"How can you even tell if he is, as you say, 'spacing out on us'? He is not really focusing on anything in particular." I moved my eyes in the direction of Gaara's voice. "See. It is as if he is looking right through me."

I didn't appreciate them talking about me as if I weren't even there. I cleared my throat to gain their attention. If no one else could see him, then perhaps… "Gaara."

"Yes, Mr. Uzumaki."

"Are you a ghost?" I asked, hoping that I wasn't hitting a nerve. I mean, I'd probably be insulted if someone asked if I were dead.

_Clank. Scratch_. His beads scraped together. "I was very much alive the last time I checked. My father and I were living here with the rest of the monastery. Then I woke up and everything had changed. All this new 'technology'." He said the word as if it were foreign to his tongue. "You people can converse with one another through little machines. It is all rather amazing. This must be God's work. Perhaps he has sent me here for a reason."

Sai scoffed. "Give it a rest already. God this. Holy Spirit that. Sai, you're going to Hell. Sai, you're going to burn with the devil. Sai, you're the most despicable person I've ever met and God will not forgive you if have intercourse with a man."

"Wait," I said, ignoring Sai's rants. "You've seen a cell phone before, right?"

"Not before waking up here."

"Gaara, what year were you born?" I asked after considering the facts. There were two explanations. He was either Amish or…

"Eighteen-twenty. Why do you ask?" eighteen-twenty? No way. That was almost two-hundred years ago. There had to be a mistake.

Sai decided to pitch in. "It's twenty-ten, mate. Sorry to tell you this, but you're dead."

"I am not dead, Sai. I am not. Stop giving me that look. I know what I am talking about. I was living here with my father. He was the priest, it was an abbey. I was friends with the monks. Stop looking at me like that, I am not dead."

"Right," Sai said. "But you being dead still doesn't explain these marks that appeared over my body when I stepped foot into this place."

"I am not dead!"

"What marks?" I asked.

I heard Sai rubbing a hand against his skin. "They're all over my arms and legs. They look almost like bithmarks. I look like a fucking burn victim."

"Sai--"

"I know, Gaara. I'm going to hell, right?"

"You most certainly are."

I held my hands up, hoping that they'd see and realize I wanted to cut in again. "Let me get this straight. You were born almost two-hundred years ago, no one but Sai and I can see or hear you, but you're not dead?"

"You are correct, Mr. Uzumaki."

"You can call me Naruto." I rubbed a pressure spot at the back of my neck. "What's the last thing you can remember?"

Gaara paused before answering. His voice sounded so far away and lost as he spoke his next words. "I am not sure. Everything is so blurred, but I know I used to live here with my father. And I feel as if I have lost someone. Someone very important to me. But I can not remember. When I awoke, I was on the floor next to Sai. He had suffered from a blackout at the entrance of this building." He paused before starting again. "When I tried to walk away from him, I was unable to. I am bound to his side."

"Which is fucked up. Try taking a shit with some red-haired dude in the room with you. Dead or not."

Red hair? Just like in my dreams. I'd never seen Gaara before, so he couldn't look like the guy I'd been dreaming about. "Do you have teal eyes?" I asked. I had to know.

"Yes," Gaara answered. "You are not blind, after all?"

"I am… but I think I've seen you in a dream," I said, feeling myself grow a little hot. That sentence hadn't sounded so gay in my head.

"Woah. You really are a fag." Sai laughed, and the bed squeaked as he attempted to stop.

"Fag?" Gaara asked.

"Sorry, a homosexual."

"Oh, no. Mr. Uzumaki. You will burn in hell. God does not permit homosexuals into heaven. It is against nature."

I felt like banging my head against the welcoming hard surface of my desk. "I'm not gay!"

Not only did I have to worry about going blind at the age of 15, I now had Sai and Gaara to deal with. A psycho and someone who shouldn't have been in our era. This was going to be a VERY disturbing year.

* * *

**Well. Well. Well.**

**Poor Naruto. Let's all pray that his eyesight comes back, shall we?**

**Please R&R. I always update quicker when I know people are enjoying it. I've only been updating everyday because I've been getting lovely reviews from people. **

**Ja ne**

**x**


	4. We humbly beseech thee to behold,

**Thanks for my lovely reviews.**

**Here's the next chapter :).  
**

**A bit of Sasuke's and Naruto's background in this chapter. I'm sick of the 'evil' Sasukes around here, I wanted a change.**

* * *

Sasuke hadn't appreciated Sai's phone-shenanigan. He hadn't mentioned it when I'd called him back, but I could tell by his voice. Sure, it was nonchalant and monotonous at the best of times, however, to my trained ears, I could detect the suspicion grudgingly rolling off his every word. Sai really couldn't have picked a worse thing to say, not since the incident the year before. I thought we'd worked through it, but Sasuke must've held his own opinion toward the matter.

Sai hadn't known the damage he was about to cause with his conversing. But the words had obviously brought up memories and emotions which had been buried, locked away. Key tightened, chained and thrown away. Because when Sasuke came back that Sunday night he hadn't came to see me like he usually did. He didn't come to fill me in about his neglecting parents and arsehole of a brother which he usually mused about light-heartedly. I knew the truth. And he knew I knew the truth. His quips about moving to Mexico or coming to join my family -- he always let me know they'd probably like him better, anyway -- was his way of dealing with things.

Truth number one about Sasuke Uchiha: If he doesn't like you, then you'll know about it.

Truth number two about Sasuke Uchiha: He could win an Oscar with his bastard act.

Truth number three about Sasuke Uchiha: He cries himself to sleep most nights.

Truth number three neither of us ever mentioned. It wasn't really something we'd ever brought up. Even the morning after he'd snuck into my room when I'd stayed at his place and slept beside me within the covers, it wasn't brought up. I'd pretended to be asleep, but we both knew I wasn't, and we both agreed in our own silent way that that's how it should've been addressed. Me acting as if I were oblivious to his sniffing and shaky breaths. But he was my best friend, and I'd witnessed what'd happened a few hours beforehand to make him so upset, so I couldn't leave things like that -- me laying with my back to him as he curled himself into a ball beside me.

His whole demeanour had frozen as I turned and locked an arm around his waist in a friendly hug. He could've been mistaken as dead. I could only imagine what his face had been like in the dark beside me. But he relaxed after a few seconds and we both fell asleep. I'd woken in the morning to him gone. When I changed into my attire for the day and descended his staircase, I followed a smell of bacon and eggs to the kitchen where he sat eating at the table. "Eh?" I moaned "You're not going to make me some?" He'd cocked a mocking eyebrow in my direction. "This isn't a hotel. I'm not your chief. Make your own damn breakfast," he'd responded, letting me know that if I wanted to eat I had to cook my own food. And the Sasuke from the night before was well and truly gone. Well, not gone, hidden is the word I'm looking for. But that night had started something that was soon to spiral out of control and almost risk us our friendship.

Laying within my covers on Sunday night, I decided to pay Sasuke a little visit to his dorm the next morning. His room was only one corridor away, so I knew I'd be able to find it myself. I'd walked there thousands of times in the past, after all. So that's what I did. I awoke to the alarm Lee had set me and felt around the edges of my dresser to find my uniform, desk to sort papers out which had been left there, and small bathroom with dabbing fingers and was finally ready after what felt like hours.

I stood in the bathroom, staring at what should've been the mirror. I could feel its cold surface under my trailing tips, so it was there. I blinked. Black. I blinked harder. Nothing. I squeezed my eyes shut and opened them a few time. A void. Not even colours or shapes were beginning to form -- Miss. Haruno said they should've been by now. Sighing, my fingers left the mirror and I stalked from the room, out into the empty corridor, and felt my way down the hallway, counting off the door numbers as I felt them. Once reaching the Uchiha's, I gave a tentative knock, waited and knocked again when there was no answer. Still he didn't answer the door, so without caring about waking the rest of the dorm's occupants, I hammered on the door.

"Dammit, Sasuke. It's me," I said, leaning closer to the door as if that would make it open. I lifted my arm and rapped my knuckles against what should've been wood.

"Son of a--" Sasuke yelled when I knocked on his head. "Do you know what time it is? Lessons don't start for another hour!"

Woopsie-daisy. I grinned, rubbing the back of my head. He couldn't blame a blind person-- Wind blew into my face, and I heard the door slam-- obviously he could. "Oi, sleeping beauty, open up!"

"Keep it down out there." Someone shouted from a dorm. I flinched, hoping no one would throw a boot at me like I was some cat mewing on a dumpster.

The wood in front of me reopened, something clutched my collar, and my head fell backward as I was dragged into the room. The door slammed shut, and I stepped backward as I was released, rubbing at my neck and pouting like a child who'd just been punished.

"What do you want?" Sasuke snapped.

"Good morning to you, too," I mumbled, shuffling forward to find his desk. When I stepped upon the black rug he'd placed on the floor at the beginning of term, I knew it was close. I stretched my arms, felt the edge of the wooden surface and drew myself nearer. But when hot breath ghosted over my face, tickling at my skin and making my cheeks grow hot at the minty smell, I froze. I couldn't see Sasuke's face, but I knew it was there, inches from mine. Maybe even centimetres.

My eyes rotated in the sockets, not knowing where to direct them.

"Naruto…"

When a soft, moisturised hand brushed the skin on my chest, just above the last button on my academy dress shirt, I pulled away. Maybe a little too sharply, because as I stumbled backward, sucking in a lungful of air, I tripped over his computer chair and my head met the wall with an almighty _thump_. It's kinda hard to tell if you've blacked out when you can't see, but from the sound of Sasuke's weight leaving the desk and his footsteps rushing to my side, I came to the conclusion that I was well and truly conscious. Oh, and the throbbing running through my skull gave it away as well.

"Naruto, are you okay?" Sasuke asked with such concern in his voice. It made me feel like a bastard. A bad friend, for what I'd done to him the year before. Everything was my fault, after all. The way he felt about me, it was all my doing. But I hadn't known, not until it was too late.

"Yeah." His hand gripped my arm, and he helped me to my feet. "Just a little bump. Nothing to worry about." I laughed. "You know--"

"Sorry," the Uchiha spoke, letting the word role from his lips in almost a whisper. At that moment I was glad I'd lost my sight. I didn't think I'd be able to handle the solemn face which I knew was probably taking over Sasuke's pale features.

Our silent agreement had been shared again. I laughed, resting my cupped hands behind my head. "So, what's the time? I mean, lessons start at nine, and I'm starving. Fancy going down to get some breakfast?"

Sasuke didn't answer at first. Now was the point that I wanted my sight back. I wanted to see the pain in his face. The pain that I'd caused. It was only right that I should experience it, should let it eat at me. But I had no choice. It didn't matter what I wanted. I couldn't see him, and perhaps that was for the best.

"Hn," Sasuke hummed as he stepped past me. "If you can find your way down there."

"Eh?" My hands left my head. "You're not going to help?"

The door opened. "This isn't a hotel. I'm not your bellboy. Find your own damn way."

* * *

My hand clutched the food tray as Sasuke and I lined up for breakfast. I shuffled my feet when Sasuke pushed my back to indicate that the line had moved, and I placed the tray on the metal ledge around the serving area to grab my food. "Sasuke, where's the ramen?" I asked when he pushed the arch of my back to the next place.

"Right in front of you, dobe," he said as the clanking of a plate landed on his own tray beside mine.

"Right." I hovered my hand out and gently lowered it to find a bowl of the steaming goodness. I felt my taste buds begin to dance when the edge of a bowl touched my fingers, and I lifted it to place it on my own tray.

The Uchiha clicked his tongue off the roof of his mouth when my bowl was in place. "That's chicken soup."

"Oh," I said dumbly. Seriously, who served chicken soup at breakfast, anyway? I put it back and tried for another.

"Don't bother." He hit my hands away. "Here." My tray wobbled slightly in my grip as a bowl was dumped upon it, and I turned slowly to find a place to sit. "This way." Sasuke's voice was farther to my left, so I moved slowly across the dinning room floor, hoping to not have a nasty accident and end up covering some poor, unsuspected student with my ramen -- because I didn't think Sasuke would go back up with me to get some more, and I really was starving. A hand grabbed the back of my green blazer. "Sit," he instructed. Heh. I was about to walk straight past him.

I miss calculated my turning space, tripping on the leg of a chair and losing control of my tray. It wobbled in my hands, I hopped on one foot, trying to regain my balance, and lost the food carrier.

"Woah. Careful, dude." Kiba's dog-like reflexes did come in handy sometimes. He lifted the tray from the air and placed it on the table beside Sasuke's before announcing his leave to get his own.

Even with the silent agreement between us, it still felt more than slightly awkward as I sat silently beside my best friend, trying to catch the strands of ramen with my fork. I had to think of something to say, because if Kiba didn't hurry up and come back, I was going to die choking on the atmosphere.

"Sasu--"

_Clank. _

Chair legs scratch across the floor beside me, and an arm wound its way around my neck, pulling me against a body. "Hey, dickless." Oh, for the love of…

"Sai--"

"What're you doing?" Sasuke growled, his voice dripping with venom as he obviously stared the other boy out. For someone who was usually indifferent, he certainly could intimidate when he wanted to. Hell, when he used his 'I'm going to run a knife through your throat and dance around your body while it ejaculates blood' voice, even I wanted to cower in a corner and beg for his forgiveness when I hadn't done anything wrong -- sort of like right now.

The arm around my neck loosened, and I moved to straighten myself. "Who're you?" Sai asked. I could practically feel the killing intent radiating off the Uchiha. Maybe not being able to see was a good thing, because I was pretty sure Sasuke was adorning a face which meant 'you, me. Outside. Now'. I hated that look. It'd been directed at me too many times in the past to take it lightly anymore. "Oh, you're the guy who called Naruto on Saturday. Did he call you back in the end?" Sai said with a monotonous voice that could give Sasuke's a run for its money. "I need you in my room, Naruto," Sai said, and was that a hint of fake seduction in his voice? Was he trying to ruffle Sasuke's feathers on purpose? "Our little friend wants to see you again." I fiddled with the fork still between my fingers. That sounded so wrong. All I could do was hope he hadn't looked at his crotch when he said that.

"I'm eating right now." I lifted the fork full of noodles to my mouth to exaggerate my case. The flavours satisfied my tongue, and I wanted to sigh.

"You could always attend to him here."

I didn't think it was possible to almost swallow an eating utensil. But as those words left Sai's mouth, and as Sasuke grunted in surprise, I lost control of the fork and had to choke it back up, scratching the insides of my throat as it came.

"Mr. Uzumaki, it is rather important. I would very much appreciate it if you went with Sai so I am able to converse with you properly."

I pursed my lips. What would Sasuke think if I went with Sai? I knew what he'd think. He'd think something was going on between us, and after what I'd said to him last year, going off with some boy now would just prove that I was a class-A jerk. But Gaara had said it was important. My fingers dug into the bone above my eyes to rub at my eyebrows. "Fine. Sasuke, I'll be right back." If I could've told him the truth, it would've saved so much hassle, but he wouldn't have believed me and I had no proof, meaning he'd just think I was a freak. Our friendship was already balancing off the edge of a cliff from my point of view, and it didn't need anymore nudging in the wrong direction.

"Okay. What's the deal?" I asked once Sai's dorm room door was firmly closed. I was still trying to think of an excuse to use for why I ditched Sasuke and Kiba to talk to someone who I barely even knew.

"I checked this place's history out on the internet," Sai began. "After explaining one hundred times to Gaara that it wasn't the work of the Devil, I came across a site which gave a bit of information."

"Right," I said, crossing my arms. I'd been dragged from my ramen for this? "What's that got to do with me?"

"That's what I said." Sai's bed bounced as he sat.

"I assumed you would like to be kept informed with the happenings of our investigations," Gaara said.

"No offence, but I have bigger things to worry about at the moment thanks to Sai, and this hasn't got anything to do with me." Well, as snotty as that sounded, I was right. Why should I get roped into their problems?

"No way," Sai began. "You're not leaving me to put up with Jesus' love child alone."

I shook my head. "Sorry, but you're the one bound to him, not me. This isn't my problem."

"But you can hear me," Gaara said, clanking his beads as he played with them.

"Then just stay away from me and I won't have to." I really didn't want to sound like an arse, but it REALLY had nothing to do with me, and if this kept happening, I was going to lose Sasuke. I was already treading on very thin ice.

"Don't you even want to hear what we found out?" Sai asked. He took my silence as an invitation to carry on. "Apparently this place was used as an abbey throughout the nineteenth century, but it became a school in the early nineteen-hundreds."

"We also found a picture of my father." Gaara sounded in awe about the fact. But then again, he probably was. It was unlikely that you could find pictures of people on a machine when he was born. "There did not seem to be any records of me, though. It was almost as if I never existed."

"But I'm going up to the library later to see if there's any different records here in the building. The quicker we figure this thing out, the quicker I can take a shit by myself again."

"And the quicker I am able to go back to where I came from."

The duvet rustled and the bed squeaked as Sai pushed up from the mattress. His footsteps echoed around the now silent room, and my chin was lifted roughly by what I can only guess was his finger. I sensed his presence lean closer as he invaded my personal bubble and hot breath tickled my ear. "And the quicker you can get your pretty little self back to the Uchiha." I jolted my head away from his finger. "So, are you in?"

It wasn't just about not upsetting Sasuke with my sudden 'interest' in Sai, it was also about getting rid of the damn dreams that the redhead had been invading, and the constant prayers and beads hitting together.

"I'm in."

* * *

**Oooo. It's getting interesting now ^^. I'm getting excited! So many unanswered questions (I'm so glad I have a plan for this or I'd be soo lost right now. And trust me, it's not turning into a NaruSasu fic. I just needed to show them so close to bring more emotions to the future chapters.**

**What did Naruto witness that upset Sasuke so much? What happened between Naruto and Sasuke a year ago? Who is Gaara, why is he there, and why are there no records of him?**

**Please review :). I get loads of favs and alerts, but not many people are reviewing :(. I always update quicker when I get reviews ^^.**

**Ja ne**

**x**


	5. visit, relieve thy sick servant Naruto

**Well. Here's the next chapter.**

**Hope you enjoy ^^**

* * *

What the hell was the point of me even being there?

As pages flipped and mumbles were exchanged, I sat quietly at one of the school library's tables and listened. Classes were over for the day, Sasuke and Kiba were off doing their homework somewhere and I was stuck listening to the history of the academy. My fingers drummed against the surface of the mahogany table and played with the cracks in the wood.

"Are you alright, Mr. Uzumaki?" Gaara asked when I'd not spoken for what seemed like hours.

"Peachy," I said. I mean, why wouldn't I want to spend my afternoon cooped up in a stuffy, old library? History never was my favourite subject**.(1) **It took me until year nine to realize that Hitler was against the Jews. But Sai had still dragged me to the oppressing place. He'd waited outside my last class, math, like I were some sort of prey and pounced the second I'd left the room. Sasuke hadn't seemed too happy about the set up, and Kiba had seemed a little confused that I wasn't going to join them on the academy's field to do our homework like we did most Mondays. The warm rays seemed very tempting right about now.

"Still nothing," Sai said in a monotonous voice which resembled one of a zombie.

"Indeed," Gaara mumbled. "But these books are not the building's records. I am certain that there should be some… somewhere. My father was rather partial to recording services which took place in the church here."

More pages were flipped, before a book closed and was tossed on the table, making me jump at the sudden thump. "What church?" Sai asked.

"The one below the building's structure."

"Like a secret church?" I asked.

"You could say that."

"And you choose only to mention this now?" Sai asked, not feeling it necessary to hide the irritation to his tone. I'd be annoyed if I were him as well. He'd been with Gaara for almost two weeks and he hadn't bothered to tell him. Did he not think that that piece of information may have came in handy?

"I did not see the relevance."

"You didn't see the…" Sai's voice died, and I jumped again as another book hit the table and a chair scratched across the wooden floor, sending pinpricks shooting through my veins. "You know what, bible-boy, maybe you should just pray to God and ask him to help you--"

"I have been--"

"Then I'll just let Him help you--"

"He'd probably be more help than--"

"Fuck you--"

"Sai!" Gaara's voice became a pitch higher as the curse still echoed around the room.

"No--" Sai cut himself off when the humming chatter which had been hovering around the library died, and a chair scratched back across the floor as Sai sat back down and began to whisper. "No, Gaara. I've been ripping my hair out trying to help you. I've had people thinking I'm a schizo because I've been 'talking to myself', and I'm sick of it."

"It is not as if I have been having an easy time with this either." Gaara's usual stoic voice quivered and broke slightly as he cleared his throat. _Clank_. "You are not the only one who has been forced to stay in this… this… Devil loving world. You people should be ashamed of yourselves. Everything here goes against God, and you are all going to hell."

Their argument, if that's what you could call it, seemed to have caused a buzz around the library. I was sure everyone was peering at us -- mainly at Sai for having his 'one-sided' argument to their eyes. My body was itching to leave, but I wasn't going to get anywhere by myself.

"Hell?" Sai whispered. He laughed then -- laughed so hard I thought he was going to have a heart attack. The outburst probably wasn't making people think he was any more sane than someone who talks to their self. I rested my elbows against the cold surface of the glossed table and let out a sigh through my nose -- I was the idiot stuck with him. Can anyone say 'tainted with the same brush'? "Hell isn't real. God isn't bloody real--"

"Take that back, you heathen." _Clank. Scratch_. "You take that back right now or--"

"Or what? You'll throw a bible at me?"

Okay. Now things were getting out of hand. A little tiff was okay, but this was becoming a full-blown argument and if Sai started shouting again, I'd actually have to attempt getting back to my room alone, which would've been a task since the dorms were on the other side of the building. "Sai, just take it back," I said.

"Don't you start as well. Do you know how mad he's driving me?… You know what? You don't even exist, so I'm going to ignore you." I could just imagine Sai, who I still didn't even know what he looked like, crossing his arms and leaning back in his chair with his lids shut. "Yup. You don't exist. La. La. La." Wow he really was going mad. ". Ita! He hit me! He bloody-- wait-- how did you do that?"

"I quite simply lifted my hand and--"

"No," Sai said. "You can touch me?"

"It would seem so. Yes."

"Touch Naruto. See if he can feel you," Sai said.

That was it. The conversation was getting too creepy for my liking. "So, about this church," I said, changing the subject. I blinked a few times when I realised how dry my eyes were getting. "How do we get to it?"

"There is a door in the ground outside the building. It is the only way in," Gaara said. _Clank. Scratch_. "But I am presuming that it has been long since locked by now, if not destroyed."

"Well, I guess there's only one way to find out." Chair legs scratched across the floor again. I really hated that sound, if it carried on my ears were going to bleed. My arm was grabbed, hauling me to my feet. "We'll go down there tonight when everyone's asleep. I'll come and get you, dickless, when the coast is clear."

"Eh?" My head turned in the direction of Sai's voice. "What use will I be, anyway? I'm bloody blind!"

"Even so, you're coming."

* * *

I sat at my windowsill, leaning my face out into the cold air, letting the fresh breeze chill my face and send goosebumps down my neck. It was definitely night. The air always had a different feel to it when the sun went to bed -- sort of like the old was being washed away by the new. I still sat in my uniform, minus the green blazer, and had the white shirt open to reveal the orange top beneath. I knew it was orange because that's what colour all my tops were. So it couldn't really be any other… unless Lee had left a green shirt in my room again. I really hoped he hadn't.

Knuckles rapped on the wood of my door, and it clicked open. "Alright, dickless? What you looking at?" He laughed at his own lame joke and stepped into the room. "Ready to get going?"

"What about the night prefects?" I asked. Some students were given extra credit to patrol the halls at night to make sure no student snuck off grounds while the teachers were asleep. You know what they say, when the cat's away the mice will play. Kiba and I crept to Sasuke's room once last year after midnight just to see if we could get away with it. You know how kids are. Long story short, we didn't. We ended up in detention for a week.

"I didn't get caught coming here, did I? It also helps that I have Gaara to check around corners. Come on, let's just hurry up and get down there, I want to get _some_ sleep tonight."

He grabbed the sleeve of my shirt and dragged me from my room and down the hallway. Every so often we had to stop so Gaara could give us the all clear, but then we proceeded on our mission.

"There is no one there," Gaara said when we approached the last corridor which led to the entrance doors.

An arm draped over my shoulder and pushed me forward. Scot-free, ay, Naruto?"

"Let's just get this over with," I mumbled as the large wooden door opened. It sounded so much more noisier than during the day. Almost as if someone had purposely rusted the hinges just for us. Bastards.

The chill hit my skin once we left the building, and the echoic noises bouncing off the walls disappeared as the door was shut behind us. I took a step forward, letting my feet get used to the harder concrete flooring.

"So, where to now, bible-boy?"

"This way."

Lumps of turf flattened under my feet as we walked across the field just outside the building, and the wind picked up, leaving me hugging my arms to stop the small bumps forming on my skin again. I tilted my head up, I wanted to see the stars. But I'd be able to see them again one day, I was sure of it. I'd be able to see everything again… one day. I'd be able to see Sasuke's face, what Sai looked like. I'd gaze up at the stars and take my time to observe things for just that second longer.

"Here," Gaara said, and we came to a halt.

"Where?" Sai asked.

"It must be underneath all this shrubbery."

"Right then." Roots ripped from the soil, and dirt was scrapped away by fingers before something knocked against wood. "Ah. Found it." I could hear the smile in Sai's voice. I could THEN hear the strain in his moans as he obviously attempted lifting whatever was there. "Open up, you…fucking…bitch," he said between strains.

"Sai!" I saw Sai's point about him being annoying. I could see the bible talk getting old _very_ quickly.

Something popped, creaked, and an eerie howl blew from the ground. "Got it! How the hell are we supposed to see down there? It's pitch black!"

"Welcome to my world," I mumbled.

"There should be torches if you have any means of fire," Gaara said beside me.

_Tch_. "I've got that covered."

"What is it?" Gaara asked, not hiding the awe in his voice.

"It's called a lighter, dumbass. It's used for setting people alight." _Tch. Tch_.

"It is used for what!"

"It's a weapon sent from the Devil himself. He hid fire from the darkest corners of Hell within it and gave it especially to me. You see--"

"Shut the hell up, Sai," I said. "Stop teasing him. Gaara, it's mainly used for sparking up cigarettes."

"But--"

"And the Devil didn't give it to him."

"Abide, O dear Redeemer, among us with Thy Word--" _Clank. Scratch_.

"Great. Gaara, there's no time for a service. It's almost two am," Sai said, grabbing my arm. "Show us where the torches are."

"And thus now and hereafter. True peace and joy afford. Amen."

"Yeah. Whatever. Amen. Let's go."

* * *

The crackling reminded me of the science lab, and I flinched every time the torch sounded like it was getting close to me. Talk about scarred for life. We'd been down in the stale, cold place for at least an hour, and we hadn't found anything. Not even the church yet. Gaara had forgotten to mention that the underground church was surrounded by an underground abbey. And if I could guess by how far we'd already walked, it was huge!

"Oh my." Gaara's voice echoed off the old walls. "It's my room." A flimsy sounding door squeaked open.

"Wow," Sai said. "Great bedroom."

"We did not need much, unlike heathens like you. But I did at least have a bed." The room must've been empty, but what did he expect? This was, like, two-hundred years later.

"Are you remembering anything more?" I asked, stepping forward to place my hand on the stone in the wall.

"No," Gaara whispered. "My memory is still misty. Things just are not linking. I know there must be more to what I currently know."

Footsteps entered the room. "Hey, look. A chair." Wow, Sai really had no tact.

"Try exercising some verstehen, dipshit." I entered the room behind the boy.

"I should have so many memories from this room," Gaara said after a while of silence. And I'm pretty sure Sai had flipped me the bird. "But I have none. All I know is that it is my room. This is not right." His voice wavered slightly at the end. "I feel… I feel so hollow. Incomplete. Somehow… somehow I know there is more to this. I have lost something. I know it." Something scraped across the old bricks and clumps flaked to the floor, hitting the cold stone and sending bits into the air. "Something important."

"Sai, stop playing with the bricks, we don't know how unstable this place is," I said when I began to inhale the floating bits of old brick.

"Psh. Don't look at me--" Like I could, anyway "--I'm over here. It's Gaara playing with the damn…"

"I can touch it," Gaara said in the darkness. "Look, Sai. I couldn't affect anything above ground."

"You could touch me. See if you can touch him."

"Wait," I said, backing up slowly. I didn't want some -- I'd like to say 'dead guy' here, but apparently he wasn't -- guy trying to touch me.

My arm froze. I didn't feel skin or fingers or a hand touching my arm. I felt ice. The chill sank into my veins, freezing my insides and making my head pound, almost as if I'd just eaten a tub of ice-cream -- mega brain freeze. But then a spike of neon light shot through my darkness. Spears of horizontal whites and blues and yellows -- every colour you could think of -- zigzagged in front of my eyes. I was falling. I must've been, because I could feel the wind tugging at my hair. I wanted to gasp, I wanted to scream, I wanted to move. But my body remained frozen in time as the lights invaded my darkness. The black which I'd become so accustom to. It was… it was gone.

The spears of light slowed down, forming objects and corners and walls. They pulled at my conscious, dragging me farther away from the numbing blindness. And then… and then… I was in the room. I was in the room before, but now I could _see_ the room. I could see the chair, the bricks, the small bed attached to the wall with looped metal chains. I could see the… wait a second. Gaara had said there wasn't a bed in the room, and why were all the torches alight? Sai had only lit one. I twisted my head. Where was Sai?

"What is going on?" That voice. That low, raspy voice with only a slight hint of past emotion spoke. The boy with the beads. Gaara.

My foot stepped backward, and my shoulder twisted as I turned to peer behind me. And I froze again. The chill in my veins returned as I gazed into his teal eyes. Those eyes, that nose, that flawless skin which looked like it'd been bathed in creamy milk. The boy from my dreams. The boy with the… with the rosary beads? In his delicate hand, he held a set of bluey-green beads with a cross dangling from the end. That whole time. The whole time, with the clanking and scratching. It'd been rosary beads. I wanted to smack myself for not realising sooner what they were. When he prayed, he must've twisted them between his fingers. That was the noise. "Gaara?" I knew it was him, but I still felt the need to emphasis the fact. Still the need to ask and know for a hundred per cent.

Red, the colour of blood, tilted and ruffled on his scalp as his head moved. And those lips, the ones in my dream, moved. Retreating and clawing closer as he spoke. "Mr. Uzumaki? You can see?"

I nodded. I could see. I could see everything as well as I could before the accident.

"That is wonderful news. God must have heard my prayers." He tightened his pale hand around the beads. "I prayed for your sight, Mr. Uzumaki. I prayed from the moment you left the infirmary after our meeting." His voice suited his face, his body. He wasn't the brown-haired dweeb I'd imagined in the infirmary that day. He was a well built, very attractive boy who was no shorter than I was. His once white, now grey, shirt hung to his chest loosely and the brown trousers which came just below his kneecap were frayed at the bottom, but somehow… somehow he looked perfect.

"You did?" I asked, dumbly, and he nodded, letting the red tresses bounce on his head and move from his forehead slightly. It ghosted across the skin, moving to the side, revealing some red smudge just above his eyebrow. "What's that?" I asked, pointing at the smudge.

He lifted his fringe to reveal a sign which I couldn't read. I recognized it as Kanji, but the school didn't teach Japanese. "If you are talking about the mark, then I do not know. I did not have it before waking up in your time. But more importantly, where is Sai? And the room has changed." He dropped the tresses and they covered the mark again.

"I dunno," I said, twisting my body to look around. "I saw these flashing lights, then, bam." I clapped my hands together. "I could see again."

"This is very confusing." Gaara twisted his beads between his fingers and played with the neck of his loose shirt with the other hand.

I nodded in agreement before hearing footsteps heading toward the room. "Sai?" I called, wearily. Not even Gaara had seen him leave, and he could see! To be honest, I was a bit excited to see what the bastard looked like. It would be nice to put a face to the name and voice.

The door creaked open, a hand moved around the wooden frame, and somebody entered. But that somebody wasn't Sai. And that somebody didn't seem to be able to see us. Not to mention… that somebody was Gaara!

* * *

**(1) I honestly thought Hitler was with the Jews until year 9. My history teacher said something along the lines of Hitler slaughtering the Jews. I actually put my hand up and was like, "But I thought he was on their side." I'm not even joking... that's how bad I am at history. **

**OOOOOO. I got well into the grove there when Naruto started getting his sight back! I'm so excited!! I'm finally getting into the plot. Sorry about not updating sooner, but I have A-Levels starting in 13 days, and I don't really have time to write. I've had to stay up until almost 2am just to get this out of the way, and I have to get up at 7 for college! I must be crazy.**

**Ja, mina! There's loads more questions adding to this bucket of confusion!**

**All the things about Sasuke. What happened a year ago between him and Naruto? What's the secret about the Uchiha's family, and what was said?**

**Who is Gaara? Why is he in their time? Why has Naruto's eyesight come back? Why can Naruto see him if he's bound to Sai. Wwhy is he bound to Sai?…. Where is Sai? And why the hell has Gaara just walked through the door if he's standing next to Naruto!**

**Man, at this rate I'm going to confuse myself! Okay, that was along author's note, I'm just really excited for the next chapter.**

**Ja ne**

**x**


	6. for whom our prayers are desired,

**Thank you everyone for my lovely reviews. Especially Lady MC. No Knuckle, who gave me such a wonderful review that I wanted to cry. She didn't have an account, though. So I couldn't reply.**

**Prepare to get even more confused about Naruto and Sasuke's relationship. ^^.**

**Okay. On with the chapter**

* * *

_The door creaked open, a hand moved around the wooden frame, and somebody entered. But that somebody wasn't Sai. And that somebody didn't seem to be able to see us. Not to mention… that somebody was Gaara!_

But this Gaara had no mark adorning his forehead. He pushed the door softly, making sure it clicked into place in its frame before leaving the wood. When he strode farther into the dark room, I moved so he didn't walk through me, because if it were anything like when Gaara touched me, he'd feel a chill run through his body.

"What is going on here?" Gaara whispered, feeling the need to hide his voice even though I was pretty sure the other him couldn't hear us. "This is… this is me." When past Gaara moved by us, the one beside me moved to brush his fingers over his own reflected features, but hesitated and retracted his hand, digits curling ever so slightly.

Past Gaara, as I'd now dubbed him, knelt beside his wooden board of a bed that connected to the bricks and pulled a small candle out which had been placed on a flat metal holder, before taking a small box out from his tattered pocket and scraping a thin stick against a card-ish material pulled out from the other pocket. A small flame danced on the stick's tip and drowned his pale hand in a colour of red and orange. He lit the candle, pulled the rosary beads from around his slim neck and clasped his hands together. His lids flickered shut before bowing his head in what I could only guess was prayer.

We watched him pray in silence. His tranquil features remained still and his fingers held the beads close. I turned my gaze to the Gaara beside me, I didn't think even he knew what was going through the boy's mind. His almost non-existent eyebrows knitted together as he placed his own rosary beads over his head to let them fall around his neck. "I do not see the relevance in this," Gaara said, still watching himself kneel beside the bed attached to the wall. "I do not remember any of this." He sounded as if he thought it may have just been a cruel illusion.

I lifted my arm to place it on his shoulder but hesitated when I remembered what'd happened the last time we touched. My fingers itched to feel him, just to see what would happen. "It's alright," I said, lowering my hand after a moment. My skin made contact with the thin material on his shoulder, and nothing happened. No flashing lights, no falling, zilch. He tilted his creamy face at me and the corners of his lips twitched ever so slightly into a smile. If I hadn't been standing so close, I would've missed the small gesture. "I don't understand any of this, either. So--" My fingers tightened around the small muscles. "--I guess we just go with it."

More footsteps came from outside, and Past Gaara's fingers clenched harder around his rosary beads, not opening his eyes. And his shoulders lifted slightly as the door opened. A man gaited in wearing a black robe -- it danced in the air closely behind him as he moved -- and stood with his arms folded across his burly chest as he peered down at the boy who still hadn't stopped praying. "Gaara," the man said in a voice which seemed to rumble the atmosphere, "The brothers complimented you for your services in mass today. Your Latin is coming along quite nicely, my son."

Son? With all the religious talk, I didn't know whether to take that literally.

"Caelitus mihi vires, Father," The teenage redhead mumbled as he gazed down at the flickering candle through half lidded eyes.

"Christo et Ecclesiae," the man in the robe spoke. His hard features darkened as the flame went out, sending shadows where the torches on the walls didn't reach.

"What'd they say?" I asked.

"My strength is from heaven. And my father said, For Christ and for the Church," Gaara whispered, not tearing his eyes from the scene playing out in front.

The man stepped closer to Gaara and uncrossed his arms which held bulk that even the loose robe couldn't hide. "Brother Orochimaru asked for your assistance in the vestry, my son. Unlike I, who perceives you for what you really are, he sees great things in your future. You must do well in keeping on his good side. Perhaps your murdering sins will be forgiven and the demon inside of you will be defeated."

There goes the demon talk again. The Gaara beside me clutched the shirt on his chest between tight fingers, leaving ruffles in the material.

Past Gaara's hands released each other and he stood to turn and face the man. "Father." His head bowed. "I do not wish to help brother Orochimaru in the vestry. Please, I am very tired from mass. I--"

The man's hand moved so quickly that I barely saw him lift it. But he had, and it remained ascended in the air as Gaara's head twisted -- a red handprint staining his pale cheek. The slap echoed through the small room, sending jolts of electricity through my limbs as I held back the instinct to assist. The Gaara beside me gasped behind his hands. Could he be remembering? The robed man's rough hand then grabbed Gaara's slim wrist, fingers digging into skin, and pulled the boy closer, making the redhead lean back to avoid meeting his attacker's face. His teal eyes widened and flickered as his mouth hung slightly open. "You will do as I say, boy. I will not have a heathen among us. Do you understand me?" He shook Gaara's wrist, making his petite body jiggled under the force. "I said, do you understand me?"

"Yes. Yes, Father." Gaara's voice quivered. "I understand. I do."

"Good." He released the young boy's arm. "You will go straight there."

"Yes, Father." Gaara straightened himself and let the tranquil look abduct his features again as the door slammed with the man's leave. Some religious person he was. I didn't think people of the church were allowed to act like that. Christians were supposed to believe in 'peace on earth' and being kind or whatever to everyone. Apparently not.

The light from the torches on the stonewall flickered as the door slammed, sending dancing oranges and reds over creamy white. The redhead gripped the rosary beads between shaking fingers and squeezed his lids together. His lips pursed and he took a deep breath through his nose before stepping toward the door, opening it with a trembling hand and exiting the room. When I moved to follow, my shirt was grabbed from behind.

"Come on," I said, twisting my head to peer behind me. "Don't you want to find out what's gonna happen to you?" I stepped back and Gaara released my shirt.

He shook his head. "I do not wish to watch what happens next," he whispered, turning his face to hide it within the shadows that the torch light wouldn't reach.

"You remember?"

He nodded. "Vaguely. I remember that Brother Orochimaru was not a Holy person."

I sat upon the uncomfortable bed, and the chains holding it to the wall creaked. That made two people that didn't seem very Christian. "Okay. What do we do now?"

Gaara shrugged, letting his eyes roam the room. "How do we get back to your time? Sai will be wondering what happened."

Why was he asking me? I didn't know any more than he did. "We ended up here when you touched me, right?"

"That is correct."

"Well, when I touched your shoulder earlier nothing happened. Try touching me again."

"Do you think it will work?" He came closer and stretched out his hand.

"Only one way to find out."

Pale fingers inched toward my shoulder, and when they made contact, everything in the room turned back into spears of light. They flashed and zoomed in front of my eyes before disappearing into darkness again. I blinked a few times before realizing no one had turned the lights out. It worked… and I was blind again.

"Okay. Mind filling me in with what the fuck happened?"

I sighed. We were definitely back, and after being teased with a small period of sight, everything seemed so much darker than before.

"It worked," Gaara said to my left. I moved my eyes in his direction, but the pale-faced boy was no where to be seen. "Oh, Mr. Uzumaki, you are blind again." He could probably tell by my unfocused eyes. If you've ever seen a blind person, you'd know what I was talking about. Perhaps I should've invested in some sunglasses.

"Whatever. You guys can fill me in later. Look what I found."

I lifted a brow. "Aren't you even a little bit freaked out that we just disappeared?"

Sai clicked his tongue off the roof of his mouth. "After the last two weeks, I don't think anything will ever surprise me again."

* * *

It turned out Sai had found the building's records. The old, brown, torn paper was hard to read, and we ended up ripping a few pages, but we managed to get through everything. We filled Sai in about what happened and Gaara explained that the man in his room was indeed his father. He still couldn't remember much about him, though. And he didn't know why he was called a murderer. That comment had upset him more than he had led on. But then again, that insult would play on anyone's mind whether strict Christian or not.

The only piece of information we could find about Gaara was the fact the priest of the abbey had a son and he disappeared one day. Nothing else was mentioned, and Gaara had the odd feeling that something bigger was going on than what we were reading.

Oh, and some good news. My sight was coming back. Okay, so I could only see glimpses of light when they were extremely bright and only very blurry shapes, but it was better than pitch black. The morning after we went to the underground abbey, I awoke to the chirping of birds, and when I opened my eyes, I could've cried. But I didn't. Naruto Uzumaki did not cry like a little baby.

A circular beam of light moved left, right and I followed it with my eyes. "Can you see that, Naruto?" Miss Haruno asked as I sat on one of the infirmary's itchy beds. I nodded and the light shrunk before going out completely. "That's wonderful news. It's taking longer than we predicted, but you should make a full recovery. You're a very lucky boy, Naruto." She patted my head and laughed when I narrowed my eyes in the direction of her voice. I wasn't some little kid who needed patronising. "Are you able to get back to your room alone, or should I send for someone to escort you?"

I touched my hair, making sure it hadn't been messed up anymore than usual by her hand before answering, "I'll be fine. Sasuke said he'd come and get me when his lesson ends." Which should've been by now. "What's the time, Miss?"

"Half-four."

It was a Thursday, so class should've just been finishing. "He'll be here soon."

"Okay. You can stay until he arrives. I need to go to the main office and pick up some meds. Will you be alright by yourself until I get back?"

I flashed her one of my toothy grins. "Go. Everything will be fine, and if a student comes in ill, I'll treat them." I twisted my head around. "Where are the scalpels?"

Miss. Haruno laughed and, to my annoyance, patted my head again. "I'll be right back."

_Clank. Scratch_. My toothy grin shone again when that now familiar sound drifted into the room, but drooped when I remembered who else would be accompanying it.

"Sai," Miss. Haruno's voice came from outside the door. "How are you feeling now? There hasn't been any more collapsing on us, has there?"

"No, Miss. It was just first day nerves."

"And your birthmarks don't seem so inflamed anymore. They must've looked worse because you were very pale when brought to the infirmary."

"Huh? Oh, yeah. They do that sometimes."

I shuffled farther back on the bed and leaned against the wall.

"So, what did you need? I'm just popping to the main office, I'll be back to check you over in a moment."

"There's no need for that, Miss. I just came down to check on Naruto. I heard he was in the infirmary again." Sure, he could be courteous when speaking to a teacher.

"That's very sweet of you. Go right in." She laughed. "And make sure he doesn't try to amputate a student if one comes in."

"I'll try." The door opened. "Alright, dickless? What part of the school did you blow up this time?"

Stupid bastard. "Shut it. My eyes are getting better, it's just a check up."

"You can see again?" Gaara asked, his voice came from beside me.

"Nah, not properly, anyway. I can just see bright lights and large blurry objects."

"That's great, Mr. Uzumaki."

I sighed and crossed my legs over the white sheets to get more comfortable. "Didn't I tell you to start calling me Naruto? You call Sai by his name."

"That is because Sai is a heathen who does not disserve proper addressing," Gaara said in a matter-of-fact voice.

"I'm standing, like, right here, you know?" The sheets rustled and an arm wound around my neck as the bed dipped. "So, anyway. What're you doing tonight?"

I grabbed his wrist and threw it away. "Sleeping."

"Wrong. You're coming with us. Back to ye olde abbey. Gaara wants to see if we can find anything else out."

"Perhaps going back again will give us some clues as to why I am here," Gaara said.

Thursday nights definitely weren't a good idea for sneaking around the school. Lee would've been patrolling tonight, and I didn't dig the idea of an hour long lecture about the meaning of rules and how I've disappointed him with my disregard of said rules. "Not tonight," I said. "Someone I know is patrolling and we'll probably get caught." Unlike most other night prefects who slept on the job, Lee took it very seriously.

"Okay, then. Saturday night. The school will be more empty then, anyway."

I tilted my head to the side to look in Sai's direction. "You're not going home for the weekend?"

Sai didn't answer at first. I could feel his eyes boring into my face. "No."

"Why not?"

"Because I don't want to. Is that a good enough reason for you?"

Jeez. He didn't have to get so touchy. I was only asking.

"Are you able to accompany us on Saturday, Mr. Uzumaki?" Gaara asked, sounding oblivious to the tension he was cutting.

"Sure. I don't have anything better to do."

"You're not going home?" Sai asked, imitating me. "Why?"

Psh. "Because I don't want to. Is that a good enough reason for you? Anyway, how did you know I was here?"

Sai tsked at my repetition of his words before answering, "We heard dog boy talking to duck-butt head--"

"At least I can afford a decent hair cut." Oh, so not good. "Come on, Naruto. We're going." Sasuke came farther into the room and I could practically _feel_ the glares being transmitted from one boy to the other.

"Aw, so soon?" Sai complained peevishly. "We were having a nice little chat. Well, if needs must." He hopped off the bed. "See you later, lover-boy." Would I get excluded for sewing his mouth shut?

My arm was grabbed when Sai left with Gaara, and Sasuke didn't take my disability into consideration as he dragged me through the corridors. He didn't even warn me when we came to a set of stairs, and if he hadn't hoisted me up then I would've fallen flat on my face. Something gave me the impression he was pissed -- we turned a corner sharply, I hadn't moved quick enough and my nose slammed into the wall -- at me. A door was pushed open and I was dumped on the bed in my room.

"There," Sasuke said. "His majesty is back in his room. I'll see you tomorrow."

I bounced when I hit the mattress, and my arms flew back to stop my head from meeting another wall. "Wait."

"What do you want now, usuratonkachi?"

"What's with you?" I asked, sitting up and rubbing at my neck which had violently snapped backward when dumped.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Well, you wouldn't, would you? You've barely _talked_ to me all week."

"Tch." Was Sasuke's great comeback. He didn't even have the decency to come up with a good lie… even a crap lie would've been something.

That was it. "Don't you think we should at least talk about what happened Monday in your room?" If I could see Sasuke's face it would've either been one of shock or disgust. I could imagine him crossing his arms as well.

"You're blind. You got too close by accident then freaked out when I tried pushing you away. Shit happens."

"That's not what happened and you--"

"Then what did happen?" Sasuke spat, challenging me to say it. But I wouldn't, and he knew I wouldn't because that would go against the silent agreement we always made after accidents. Well, they were never _accidents_, but that's how I preferred to think of them as. Because if I thought about what they actually were, I'd get angry. Not at Sasuke, but I'd get angry at the person who-- "Why're you spending so much time with that guy?"

"Sai?"

"Who else? What's so great about him?" Translation: You're supposed to be my best friend, please don't leave me behind. I need you.

My teeth dug into my bottom lip as I chewed it underneath my top one. "He's new. I was showing him around, he just has an odd sense of humour. Nothing's going on between us."

"Did I ask if there was?" He didn't have to. He clicked his tongue before flopping on the end of my bed. "I've just had a lot on my mind all week." He missed out the 'sorry' bit. Typical.

"What's up?" I asked, puffing my pillow before leaning it on the wall to sit against.

"… Itachi called me on Monday. He's going to be home this weekend." Even though Sasuke bitched light-heartedly down the phone when his brother wasn't there, that was just for show. He hated his brother… no, he loved his brother. No… Well, it was all twisted. Complicated. I didn't even understand what was going on there. All I knew was that I wanted to run a knife through the bastard's heart.

"Then don't go home this weekend," I said slowly.

"You know I have to."

I nodded, and my chest ached as I awaited the question which I knew was sure to come.

"Will you--" Please don't ask it. Please. "--come back with me this weekend?"

Someone stomped on my chest, or at least that's what it felt like as I tried to take in enough air to answer. I swallowed. "I can't," I whispered. I'd already promised to help Gaara. If Sasuke had asked me earlier on during the week, then I would've been able to. "I'm really sorry, Sasuke."

He didn't answer for a while. He probably thought I was abandoning him. "Why?"

I shook my head, knowing the chances were slim that he was even looking at me. "I promised someone I'd do something with them this weekend. If it wasn't important then I'd come. You know I would. I just… I'm sorry."

"Don't tell me it's Sai." His voice was raspy. It made me want to blow Sai and Gaara off, but I couldn't. As much as I didn't want to let Sasuke down, I couldn't ditch Gaara. At the moment he was priority. We had to get him back to where he came from, and as soon as we achieved that, I could go back to being at Sasuke's side.

"I'm sorry."

* * *

**Wow. That was an intense chapter, or at least it was for me. Having a full outline for this story is making things so much easier. I've never done it for a fanfiction before, usually I just let it play out as it comes. I'm three chapters ahead of myself here, so hopefully this fic will end up being finished.**

**Well, Review if you enjoyed it. My goal for this one is 200 reviews. Don't ask why I even **_**have**_** a goal, because, to be honest, I don't know either. I just think it would look cool to have a fic with 200 reviews in the menu. I'm 10% there. *waves little achievement flag by herself'.**

**P.S -- Sorry about grammar/spelling mistakes in past, and probably future, chapters. I've been going back and correcting them when I notice an error. But, boy, you could really tell I wrote the last chapter at 2am.  
**

**Ja ne**

**x**


	7. Look upon him with thy eyes,

**Sorry about the long wait.**

**It took me ages to finish this since I've had LOADS of essays to write. I thought this chapter was going to be much longer than it actually is, but it's better to cut it off where I do because after this everything starts getting really twisted and confusing. I don't think there will be more than 4 or 5 more chapters.**

* * *

The tip of my shoe dug at a wet piece of dirt. I was such a bastard. My mind wandered back to Sasuke for the hundredth time that day and a churning sensation mounted up within my gut. He hadn't picked up my call earlier, but he'd be okay -- he always was… no, he wasn't. He was never okay, he just pretended that nothing bothered him. He'd be okay this time, though. He had to be, otherwise it would've been my fault. My frozen fingers rubbed at my bottom lip, and I nipped them with my teeth.

"Dickless!"

"What?" My head snapped in the caller's direction.

"I said, it's open. Stop daydreaming about your boyfriend and get your arse down here."

He wasn't my boyfriend! Wait, I should really reiterate that fact. "He isn't my boyfriend." There we go. I would've asked how he knew I was thinking about Sasuke, but the fact I'd checked my mobile every couple of minutes was a dead giveaway.

"Something is troubling you, Mr. Uzumaki?" Gaara asked as Sai pulled me down the stairs toward the underground abbey. The old steps creaked as we went, but that didn't stop our pace. It was Saturday night, meaning most the qualification-squad were out in town drinking. It was only a matter of time before they stumbled back to the academy if they lived too far away to get home.

"It's nothing," I said, feeling the heat of the torch hit my face when Sai lit it. The bright orangy-red light flickered through my void, and I could just make out Sai's dark outline. I still hadn't seen what he looked like, though. I thought it'd be a bit creepy to ask him to hold a bright light against his face just so I could check him out.

I pulled my black and orange jacket tighter around my chest as we proceeded down the vast amount of corridors. It was bloody freezing underground, and the wind flying down here from the left open hatch was making an eerie howl as it twisted around corners. Now that I could slightly see, the place gave me the heebie-jeebies. It was fine when I was blind. But then again, heading toward your death would've been fine if you didn't know it was coming and couldn't see it.

"This one was yours, right?" Sai asked, and he tapped on wood which I presumed was a door.

"That is correct."

We entered the room, shutting the door, and leaving the eerie howl of the wind, behind us. I let go of the edges of my jacket. It wasn't so cold in the smallish room. But I scrunched my nose; it didn't smell any better than the other night. I really wished there was a window to open. You know, air the place out a bit?

"What're you going to be doing while we're gone?" I asked Sai, readying myself for another trip to the past.

I saw the blurry outline of shoulders next to the torch shrug. "I might take a look around, or chillax here. Don't be too long, as great as it is down here, there's nothing to do. Plus we have to get going before the teachers start getting back, I don't want to bang into one once we're finished here."

"Roger." I flicked two fingers in a salute. "Ready, Gaara?"

"I am. But what if it does not happen again?"

"Then we're screwed, because I can't think of any other way to figure out why you're here and how to get you back," Sai said. "Just hurry up. Oh, and bring me back a souvenir." He laughed. Well, at least _he_ found himself amusing… but I guessed someone had to.

Again, my body froze. The zigzags of whites and blues and greens and yellows shot across my eyes. And again, those lights began forming objects and brick walls. The redhead was beside me within seconds, looking at me with teal eyes surrounded by black which showed a vast amount of sleepless nights obviously due to something tugging on his subconscious.

"You can see again?" Gaara asked when I focused on his face. I nodded and rubbed at my eyes as the lights still flashed behind my lids. "That is good." Perhaps it may have been good for now, but I knew I'd have to go back to darkness again soon. Okay, so I was seeing lights which were bright enough to cut through the void, and I was seeing fuzzy, blurry objects, but it wasn't the same as having my sight back completely.

The torches were lit again in the small, cell-like room, and we weren't alone. When a small, shivering sob drifted to my ears, I turned toward the bed Gaara was already staring at. It was himself, from two hundred years ago, of course. He lay upon the thin sheet on the wooden board and stuck his face between his crossed arms. His red hair was the only thing poking out.

"Can you remember why you're crying?" I asked.

Gaara shook his head.

Perhaps it had something to do with his father, he didn't seem the type to win Greatest Dad of the Year Award. Or maybe that Orochimaru person, he didn't sound too great himself.

_Click_. Someone wearing a brown habit peered around the corner of the door. When Past Gaara's head snapped up from his arms, the intruder opened the door fully and bolted into the room before closing it behind himself and leaning his back against it. His whole body was hidden under the brown cloak, and it hung low over his face, creating a dark hole where his features should've been.

Past Gaara swung his legs over the side of the bed and wiped his eyes with the back of his arm, letting the salty liquid transfer onto his limb when the person entered the room. "You shouldn't be here," he said.

The cloaked figure moved toward the bed and sat beside the redhead before whispering. "Shh." He took Gaara's hands into his own. "If you speak too loudly then they will find me here."

Gaara shook his head, before pulling his hands free from the grip. "If you are caught, they will whip you for sure. You know it is forbidden to be in anyone's bedchambers after hours. You must go." His pale fingers brushed the guy's shoulders in a slight push for added enthuses.

"Who's he?" I whispered even though I knew they couldn't hear me.

"I am not sure, but… I do feel as if I know him."

I turned back to the guy in the habit when he spoke again, his voice sounded so familiar. "I could not leave you when I knew you were upset, Brother Gaara. In mass today, I could see by your face that you were on the verge of crying. You must tell me what happened."

"This could have waited until morn."

"No, it could not have. I promised you when we were younger that I would be there for you." The arms on the brown cloak slid down his wrist slightly as he lifted a tanned hand to wipe away the tears still forming in Gaara's eyes. A drop leaked over his finger and dripped onto the greyish sheet as he moved his hand away again. "I am here for you, Gaara."

"I know you are, but you are already in trouble with the brothers for skipping mass to attend to my wounds the other day. If they find you here now…"

The boy, who sounded no older than Gaara himself, leaned closer so he could whisper even lower. "I do not care about them. Orochimaru should not be a Brother in the first place. He is an… an evil bastard."

Past Gaara gasped. "You should not say such things about our Brethren."

"I said, I do not care. What he does to you is ungodly." The boy griped the hood of his brown habit and pulled it back to reveal his face. "And downright wrong."

My bottom lip quivered, and I actually think my heart stopped beating when I saw the boy's face. I shot a look at my Gaara, his wide eyes showed he was just as stunned as I was. That boy. The boy comforting Gaara was… was…"Narut, please you must not speak about Brother Orochimaru like that. God will punish you for it." … The spitting image of me.

"God should punish _him_. You should tell your father what is happening."

"That would not make a difference, and you know it." Past Gaara shook his head. "My father does not care for me, not since I murdered my mother."

Tanned fingers squeezed Gaara's shoulders. "You did not murder your mother, Brother Gaara. God will know that her death was no one's fault. When a woman dies in childbirth, it is God's will."

"But my father--"

"Forget what he thinks. I know you are not a murderer." Narut smiled ever so slightly, sending sharp jolts down my spine. What the hell was going on? Everything from his bright blue eyes to his teeth resembled mine. Even the name… "Now, I must take my leave. As much as I hate to leave you alone while you are feeling this way, I can not risk being found in here like you said. I may be exiled from the abbey or transferred to another, and abandoning you is not something I will take lightly." His arm raised to trail fingers slowly over Gaara's face, wiping the last remains of tears, and stopped to cup the curve of the boy's jaw. His thumb moved to massage the skin and the sides of his eyes creased as the look within them changed.

"Narut?" Past Gaara whispered as his eyes moved to gaze down at the hand still touching his skin.

The blond ripped his limb away as if he'd just been burned. He looked down at his fingers, almost as if he were checking to see if they'd been damaged, before raising his eyes to Gaara's face again. "I-- I must go. It is late." He tugged at the habit, banishing his face to the shadows again. "I will see you tomorrow after morning mass." He didn't wait for the boy on the wooden bed to answer. He stood and left the room without a second glance, leaving Past Gaara staring at the closed door and rubbing a hand against the skin which had just been touched.

"Mr. Uzumaki, that boy--"

"I know, Gaara. I saw him…"

Gaara nodded. "Should we go?"

Should we go? Back to the blurry vision? Back to not being able to see? I shook my head. "Not yet. I want to do something first."

"Very well."

Passing through a wall was the weirdest experience I'd ever felt. I winced when passing the bricks, almost as if I expected to smack straight into them. And we left the abbey from the same way we entered two-hundred years later.

"They're so beautiful," I said, gazing up at the sky. The lack of light pollution made the night so much clearer. Hundreds, no, thousands of stars littered the sky. They sparkled in the black sea, and tiny shooting lights flashed every now and again.

"This is what you wanted to do?" The redhead beside me asked as he also tilted his head back to watch the stars.

I nodded while taking in a lungful of fresh air. "You do not realize how much you will miss the little things until it is too late." I laughed. "Jeez, your dialect is starting to rub off on me. But I've never seen the sky look so clear before." I sighed, letting the fresh air leave my lungs. "I guess we've really screwed up in the future. I don't think the sky will ever look like this again."

Gaara didn't say anything. He just let me take as long as I needed before leaving. The moon's light made his skin look almost transparent. It glowed so white that I could've mistaken him for a ghost. But perhaps that's what he was, a ghost from the past. A boy who should've died two-hundred years ago. Maybe he did…

* * *

I leaned back on my swivel-chair, letting my head fall back over the edge. Putting eye drops in when you could see a blurry hand hovering above your head was exasperatingly harder than when you can't. Although, at least I wasn't spilling it all over my face anymore. I blinked when a drop of liquid hit my eyeball, and it dribbled down my face when I sat straight again. Damn thing. I rubbed at the water with my sleeve.

"Dude," Kiba said, and I turned to face him. Yup, I could see where he was. Well, sort of. I could see a blurry figure with brown, messy hair. "You seen this?" He held up a sheet of paper which I guessed was the school's newsletter.

"Kiba," I said bluntly. "Please, don't make me hurt you."

"Oh, right." His head moved to look down at the paper in his hands. "Hey, there's no way you'd be able to read this." Why did I surround myself with idiots? Oh, yeah. It made me seem smarter.

"How the hell did you get into this school?"

"Fuck you. I'm book smart, not commonsense smart. Anyway, there's a school dance coming up."

Well, that was new. There'd never been one before. Wait a second… "We attend an all boy's academy. What's the point?"

"It says here that our sister school will be coming over for the evening." The paper crumpled. "This is awesome! I don't think I've even seen a real girl except for my sister in over a year. I need to get a haircut."

My door opened. "And a facelift."

"Fuck you, Sasuke. I'll pull more ass than you."

The raven-haired boy scoffed before collapsing on my bed. "Don't count on it. No girl will touch you with a ten foot bargepole."

"That's fighting talk, you want to make a bet with those words, you know, put your money where your mouth is?"

"How many clichés do you want to put into a sentence?" Sasuke asked. How long had he been back? It was almost lights-out, usually he'd show up much sooner than this. At least he was okay.

"You're just scared. You know I'd--" Kiba moved across the room to where Sasuke sat/lay on my bed. "What happened to your arm?" His arm?

"Oi, let go, dog breath." There was a small scuffle. "Have you never heard of personal space before? I tripped over."

"What the hell did you trip over to cause that? It looks like a handprint."

My eyes scrunched, trying to see past the fuzzy vision. But all I could see were coloured blobs where their bodies were. Then a loud thud sounded through the room as Kiba was pushed to the floor.

"I was wrestling with Itachi, he was being a dick… I guess we went over the top."

"But you said you tripped over," Kiba said from his place on the floor.

"Just shut up, Kiba, and mind your own bloody business," Sasuke's voice took on a sharp tone. It was the same sort of tone he used whenever he wanted a fast topic change. I'd come to his rescue this time, but he was going to tell me the truth afterward.

"But--

"Does it say how many girls are coming?" I asked Kiba, and just as I suspected, he dropped his current train of thought immediately.

"Nah, but there's bound to be loads. Those poor girls, made to spend their teenage years without the comfort of a man. I'll make sure they all get seen to." Kiba definitely put a new definition to 'hound dog'. "It's in two weeks. I need to find something to wear. I'll catch you two losers tomorrow, I'm going to raid Neji's wardrobe before anyone else gets first pick of his designer gear." Wow, he certainly had his priorities in order… Why did Kiba only plan ahead when it came to girls? I just wished he'd had that same thought process the day he'd played with the sulphate.

The door slammed and Sasuke stood to take his leave as well. Seriously, did he really think he was going to get away that easily? I twisted in my swivel-chair to follow him when he moved past me. "How was your weekend?" I asked even though I already knew it mustn't have been great.

He stopped, his back to me as his arm rose to clutch the door handle. The pale cream of his face appeared next to black as he moved his head to the side to look at me. "It could've been worse," he said in a voice which was unreadable. "It could've been better."

"So, he was there then?"

"Itachi's home for the month. He's back from travelling." He laughed. "My parents threw a party for their precious son's return." His shoulders tensed and I heard the handle creak under the pressure of his fingers. "There was music and gowns and suits and lots of food and speeches." His back shook as he laughed under his breath. "You should've came. You'd have loved it."

"Sasuke--"

"But you know what I find funny?" he asked in a wispy voice.

He didn't carry on, so I knew he was waiting for me to ask. He wanted this to hurt, he wanted it to sting me. He wanted to blame me. How ironic… because I already blamed myself more than he ever could. I swallowed a stone of saliva. "What?"

"How no one realized when the guest of honour dragged his little brother from the main hall." Here it came. The shooting pain in my chest. It's your fault, Naruto. I know, I promised that I'd protect you. I failed. "Or how no one heard me." He chuckled in a way which sent shivers down my spine. "I mean, come on, there were people everywhere. At _least_ three-hundred guests. Some one must've…" He shook his head, letting the black strands dance around on the back of his head. "Did you get what you wanted sorted with Sai?"

Not yet. "Yes," I whispered.

"Good. I hope you and Sai had a great weekend. I hope you're not too sore tomorrow to walk to class." Ouch.

"It's not like that, Sasuke. I've told you--"

He moved from the door, turning to face me. I couldn't see his eyes clear enough, but I was sure they were probably sparkling with salty tears. "Why him, Naruto?" he asked in a strained voice. "He looks just like me minus the haircut. I could act like him if you just tell me what you want. Tell me how he acts, I could make you happier than he does."

I almost felt the need to double over at that punch. It wasn't physical, but the begging tone made me want to fall through a black hole and stay there. It'd be what I disserved. "Sasuke." I shook my head, unable to say anything else.

"I saved your life." He stepped from the door. "Doesn't that mean anything to you?" Step. "You could've died in that explosion." You should've let me. "I'm the only person who came back for you." Step. Fingers reaching out. My head shaking no.

I stared up into his blurry face when he stood in front of me. "I saved you." His knees hit the floor, and his forehead rested on my knees as one of his hands slid the calf on my leg.

My eyebrows knitted together. My eyes scrunched. My hand rose ever so slowly, twitchy, until my fingers made contact with black strands. Folding into them. Smoothing them out with my hand. Curling my fingers tightly so the tresses stuck up between my knuckles. This was his way of gaining comfort. He needed something after a weekend at home with his brother. I wouldn't make the same mistake as I used to, but I'd give him something. That something would be my silence. I'd let him take as long as he needed, and I wouldn't say anything or judge him. "Sasuke," I whispered, uncurling my tight fingers. "You're okay."

He nodded slowly against my knees and spoke as if he were a robot. "I'm okay."

* * *

**R&R.**

**I think I might rewrite this chapter at some point. I don't really like it.  
**

**Next chapter might be up by the end of the week. I'm on a week off college!**


	8. AN:

Hey, everyone.

Just a quick update on my progress.

A couple of months ago (back in February, I think), I was in a bad accident. Because of this, I haven't been online much, so story updates haven't been happening. (I also haven't even been around to review my favourite fics.)

I no longer go to college because I'm unable to, so I do all my work from home. This is taking up most of my time.

So, updates will be slow, but they will be returning.

Thanks for listening (to those who listened).

Ja ne.


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